


Hope is for suckers and guys named Phil

by Nerd_alert19



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Romantic Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2020-11-08 18:20:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 43,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20839943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nerd_alert19/pseuds/Nerd_alert19
Summary: Takes place after they return from the mission in Russia as seen in the flashbacks. Takes a canon divergence from there. A solid dose of fluff included so be warned.





	1. Here's Hoping....

The debriefing was taking forever. He was tired and just wanted to go home and sleep for a while. He was too worked up on the flight back from Russia to be able to sleep; his mind racing with possibilities and hope.

He’d been fighting his feeling for her for years; so sure that she would never even look at him that way, let alone be willing to give ‘them’ a try. But he finally worked up the nerve to suggest it. Finding out that she had volunteered for a mission with him, all the flirting and banter, her announcement that she was tired of dating civilians all culminated in a seed of hope growing in his chest.

All he had to do now was hope it didn’t work out with the shrink. It was all he could think about on the way home; hours spent weighing his chances.

He had never allowed himself to hope before, and he chastised himself for doing it now.

He walked out of his debrief and was stunned to see her still sitting in the plush chair outside of Fury’s office. She looked tired with her head leaning back against the wall, but she still looked breathtakingly beautiful.

Her eyes open as he approached, and she offered him a tired smile.

“Did you tell Fury it was all my fault for willing that safe into existence?” She teased.

He nodded with a smile. “Yep! He said your punishment is tutoring me in Russian.”

She rolled her eyes in mock annoyance “Ugh…I knew I should have left you in that van. Your Russian is hopeless.”

He put his hands on his hips and tried to look offended “You just wait…one of these days you’re gonna run into some Russian guy obsessed with cats and beg for my linguistic skills!”

“Oh, you’ll be the first one I call.” She assured him.

“You headed home?” He asked after a beat. He tried to seem disinterested but was pretty sure she could tell he was hanging on her every word.

“Yeah…..I need sleep. You?” She responded as she took his offered hand and stood stretching stiff muscles and joints. They started making their way toward the elevator to head out. He shoved his hands in his pocket to keep from placing one on the small of her back as they walked.

“Same.” He waited a moment before bringing it up. “You got plans with the shrink?”

She glanced away and made herself busy with the elevator buttons as they stepped on. “Yeah…I don’t think that’s going to work out.”

He was certain that his heart stopped beating for a moment, and he tried to appear unaffected by her words as he asked, “No? Since when?”

“Since I called him on the flight home and told him I didn’t think it was going to work out.” She shrugged as if she had just given her thoughts about the weather rather than telling him the one thing he was hoping for.

He knew he sounded anything but smooth as he stuttered out “Huh…well…okay then.” He took a deep breath before continuing, “Perhaps we can grab that drink then…maybe talk”

She barely glanced his way, but her lips had turned up into the sweetest smile as she replied, “I’d like that.”

He knew he should stop while he was ahead; but his heart was racing, and the adrenaline made him bold so he decided to go for it.

“You know…I mean…we both need to eat.” He supplied as he rubbed his hand across the back of his neck.

She just stared ahead and nodded, but the smile had transitioned to a smirk at his nervous rambling. “That’s true” she replied.

“Yeah, so….maybe we can grab dinner first….if you want” he suggested and held his breath.

  
The elevator chimed, and they both stepped out and continued walking out of the lobby and toward the parking garage. He felt like he was going to throw up.

She nodded as they approached her car. “Hmmm…okay. Pick me up around six?”

His steps faltered at her words. His heart was hammering, and his palms felt sweaty.

“Yeah…six sounds great” he said around the lump in his throat.

She smiled as she slid into the driver's seat. “Okay then….it’s a date.”

He felt the air rush from his lungs.

Date. He, Phillip J. Coulson, was taking Melinda May on a date.

  
He was relieved that she didn’t wait for him to respond, but rather, pulled out of the parking garage to head home. He wasn’t sure how long he stood there glued to the spot and smiling like an idiot; but eventually the exhaustion kicked in, and he turned to unlock Lola and slide in. He needed to get home.

He had a date to plan.

  
She was nervous, which was ridiculous because she’d never been nervous about a date before; but this was different. This time she cared if it didn’t go well. This time it was Phil. He mattered to her, so this date mattered to her.

She felt sick.

She considered calling to postpone, but this was what she wanted. She was the one that had volunteered to go to Russia just to spend time with him, and she had thrown out several hints that she was interested. There was also flirting. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment thinking about how much she flirted with him. She had been subtly flirting with him for years and had gotten nowhere. She was anything but subtle in Russia. She had almost convinced herself that he just wasn’t interested in her which is why she volunteered for the mission. She had decided that it was time to either move forward or move on. She felt the nervous roll of her stomach again as she tossed another dress into her ‘no’ pile.

Moving forward it is.

He was early. Was it bad to be early? Did showing up for a date 10 minutes early scream eager? He knew showing up twenty minutes early did which is why he drove around the block twice and then sat in the car for another ten minutes. He kind of hoped the walk up to her apartment would take a bit longer, but here he stood: big eager dork…..eleven minutes early.

He was nervous and excited at the same time and just tried to take slow deep breaths so he didn’t embarrass himself when she opened the door. She was important to him, the most important person in his life, and he had been too afraid of ruining what they had to take this step before. He lifted his hand to knock on her door. He was pretty sure this was a terrible idea, and he should abort before it was too late and everything was ruined; but then she opened the door, and he couldn’t breathe. He’d never seen anything quite so magnificent before. She was absolutely stunning and so far out of his league that his chest hurt just thinking about it. She wore a short black dress that kissed her knees with its hem. It draped over one shoulder and left the other bare. His hands clenched by his side as he fought the urge to reach out and see if it felt as soft as it looked. Her hair curled loosely over her shoulders, and her bangs were swept to one side.

He wanted to tell her how incredible she looked; but his brain and his lips were not cooperating, and all he managed to get out was “umm…huh.”

She didn’t look impressed. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and shifted on her feet while her eyes glanced down at the small clutch she was holding. His stomach dropped, and he tried to explain.

“Oh gosh…I’m such an idiot. I’m sorry…you just look so beautiful, and I was trying to tell you, but I’m an idiot.” He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand and felt relief at the sight of the blush spreading across her cheeks. He held out the small package in his hand. “I brought you this.”

  
She looked up confused and examined the box he handed to her. “This is my favorite tea. You can only get this in Jiangsu Province.”

He clasped his hands nervously behind his back and shifted on his feet as he tried to respond, “Yeah…I know. I was close by on a mission a couple of weeks ago and picked it up. You think flowers are cheesy, and you’re never home to enjoy them so…I thought this might be a better way to go.”

He held his breath and waited for her reaction. His heart warmed at the smile that spread across her face as her fingers traced over the familiar Chinese writing on the box.

“Thanks” she uttered softly, and he was certain he had never seen her looking quite so soft and vulnerable before. His lips turned up thinking about how lucky he was that he was the one experiencing this side of her tonight. He waited as she walked back toward the kitchen counter to set the tea down and looked down at his shoes to keep from running his eyes over all the leg her dress exposed. He was determined to be the perfect gentleman with her tonight.

The hand she tucked into his arm as they left her apartment made his heart race.

The restaurant held just the right amount of class without coming off pretentious, and he knew her well enough to know what kind of foods she liked and disliked. He tried to pick a place that showed he was interested in doing this right without looking like he was trying too hard to impress her.

The silence as they perused the menu was comfortable, and he tried to remind himself that he was here with Melinda: the woman he’d known and worked with for several years now. The fact that he was madly in love with her did not mean that he had to be weird talking to her now. He’d been in love with her for a while and been just fine around her. This time just included dinner and a really pretty dress.

He really liked that dress.

She tried to keep from stealing glances at him over her menu, but he looked really good. The charcoal suit and blue tie brought attention to his eyes, and she was having a really hard time concentrating. She was pretty sure she had read the menu three times by now, but she couldn’t recall a single item listed. She stole another glance, but this time saw a smirk on his face. She’d been caught. He looked smug. She wanted to kiss him.

Instead she went for round four of menu reading.

“So what made you decide to spend the weekend with me in Russia?” He asked as he leaned back a little in his chair once the waiter had taken their order.

She refused to feed his ego and rather than confess her true intentions she replied, “I know how bad your Russian is and thought I should keep you from getting killed. It’s really time consuming to break in a new partner.”

“Oh is that it?” He smirked. “I thought you just wanted to spend time with me too.”

“Too?” She questioned “Are you admitting that you wanted to spend time with me?”

“All the time.” He confessed with a smile. “You’re my favorite person to hang out with.”

“Mine too.” She admitted as she took a sip of water. He was studying her with a thoughtful expression on his face. It made her nervous so she prodded, “What is it?”

He glanced down nervously, and his hand toyed with the silverware on the table. “You’re important to me, Melinda, and I just want to make sure I don’t end up on the list of guys you’re not into. If you don’t think this could work out then I’d rather we just call this dinner and not risk what we have.” The look in his eyes as he looked up at her made her chest tighten.

“I would have never agreed to this if I wasn’t sure, Phil.” She took a deep breath to steady her nerves before continuing. “You mean a lot to me, Phil….a lot. I wouldn’t risk what we have if I didn’t think it would be worth it to try for more.”

He looked relieved when he smiled and nodded his head. “Okay then. Melinda May, I look forward to dating you.”

She couldn’t help the soft chuckle that escaped her lips and she raised her water glass for another sip. “Me too, Phil. I can’t wait to see what kind of umm….game…you have.”

The way his jaw dropped in mock outrage was comical. “I can tell you’re mocking me, but I totally have game!”

Her tongue pushed the inside of her cheek as she nodded in amusement. “And…which part of the world would consider it game?”

“Pshh…like…most parts. Ninety-five percent at least.” He said and crossed his arms over his chest. He was cute when he was flustered. She really liked flirting with him.

She nodded and her eyes sparked as she goaded him. “So…would this part we’re in be the other five percent then?”

“Wow…that’s harsh. Okay…that’s fine. I was kind of holding back so as not to overwhelm you with all of this suavity and charm, but if you think you can handle it…”

“Oh I can handle it” she interrupted.

  
“Fine…then I’m not holding back. I’m going to date you so hard, Melinda.” He said and her heart fluttered at the way his eyes danced and his boyish grin filled his face.

They were interrupted by the waiter bringing their food and she smiled at the way they both kept stealing glances at each other while the waiter served them. This was already the best date she’d ever been on. She’d never smiled so much and wasn’t sure her cheeks could handle him “really trying”.

She was willing to risk it.

“So…you got the tea a couple of weeks ago….” She brought up as the waiter left them alone once more.

He blushed and pushed the food around on his plate as he avoided eye contact. “Umm…yeah…I was in the neighborhood.”

She smirked at that and decided to call him out. “I know the ‘neighborhood’ your mission was in, and it was about three hours from Jiangsu Province.”

“Two hours and forty-five minutes. I knew a guy.” He shrugged and took a bite of his food.

“Uh huh…and you were just wanting to buy me tea?” She asked with a smile as she tasted her own food.

He blushed deeper before admitting, “You like to drink it when you miss your grandmother. I know it would have been her 85th birthday next week, so I wanted to make sure you had some. You’re not the only one that can volunteer for missions.”

Her heart lurched. She had never had anyone do something so deeply personal and selfless for her before. She wasn’t sure what to say. Anything she said would have been insufficient or come out as a confession of how in love with him she was, so she took a sip of her water to buy a moment to think.

“It’s really good tea. Maybe next week if you’re free you can come over and try some.”

His smile gave her butterflies; so did the soft promise in his voice when he responded, “I’d like that.”

She nodded and took another bite of her food. If there was any part of her left that was not in love with him, it was now.

He took his time taking her home. He wasn’t ready for the night to be over and have to leave her company. They’d lingered over dinner. He ordered dessert for them to prolong it and their conversation was light and comfortable. They had the ease that came from years of friendship and working together in the field to keep the typical first date awkwardness at bay. They also had the added benefit of getting to flirt shamelessly with one another.

He slowed his steps as they approached her door. She seemed to be in no hurry to say goodnight either as she lingered beside him.

“I had a really great time tonight, Phil. We should do this again sometime.” She suggested as they stood outside of her door.

He smiled and reached down to take her hand. “Yeah? You’d want to go out again?”

“Hmm…I mean…if we were both free and there was nothing good on tv…” she said and pretended to think it over.

“Ohh….so I have to compete with your television. Hmm…not sure I’d hold up well. Maybe we should hold off and try this again close to December when most shows are on hiatus and I only have to compete with the Christmas specials.” He teased and ran his thumb over the back of her hand.

She smirked and stepped a little closer as she assured him, “I don’t know. You’ve already beat out the shrink. Maybe you should keep trying.”

“Hmm…I think I will.” He said softly and used the fingers of his free hand to brush her hair out of her face. His fingers lingered and slid down her cheek. He marveled at the way her breath caught and she shivered under his touch. His eyes stole down to her lips and back to her eyes to find them brimming with anticipation. He really wanted to kiss her.

He leaned down and pressed his lips to her cheek. It took every ounce of soft control not to linger, and the soft smile on her face as he pulled away made him want to kiss her lips next. It was only the deep desire to protect her heart and handle every step of this with her carefully that caused him to softly place that next kiss on the back of the hand he was holding instead. He took a step back before he changed his mind and marveled at the blissful smile on her face as she leaned back against her door.

“I don’t really watch tv, Phil,…and the next time you aim for my cheek….I hope you miss.”

A smile grew across his face as he realized the implication of her words. She unlocked her door but turned back instead of heading in. She hesitated a moment before reaching up on her toes and placing the softest kiss to his cheek. “Until next time, Phil” she spoke softly and stepped inside.

He stood in the hall for a moment and rubbed his hand over his face as he stared at the closed door of her apartment. A smile began to spread across his face and his cheek still felt warm where her lips had been. Any part of him that still thought dating her was a bad idea was officially obliterated.

He whistled a soft tune as he headed towards his car and wondered how soon he could ask for a second date.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continuation of the fluff in case you need it as much as I do theses days.

She couldn’t stop smiling. She woke up thinking about her date with Phil the night before and couldn’t seem to wipe the smile from her face. Her mother would have been ashamed of how happily distracted she was during her Tai Chi routine that morning, but she just couldn’t bring herself to care. She felt butterflies walking into work and then chastised her stomach for being so ridiculous. This was Phil. She was not going to turn into one of those sappy women who turned to mush over a man.

She walked into the building and there was Phil.

He was across the lobby waiting to get into the elevator with Maria Hill. He looked really good, and her heart raced a little.

He stepped onto the elevator and then saw her approaching and held the door for her. His smile was beaming as she stepped onto the lift next to him, and his eyes twinkled as he greeted her with a soft, “Hi”.

She was totally turning to mush. This was bad.

“Hi” she responded with a nod and bit the inside of her cheek to keep that pesky little smile at bay.

He looked straight ahead with a neutral expression, but she caught the glint in his eyes as he commented, “You look well rested, Agent May. Did you have a good night?”

She resisted the urge to smirk at his remark and decided to play along, “Ehh…it was okay. I’ve had better….had worse. I got a new tv guide this morning; so I’m sure things will get better.”

She was proud of the straight face she held as his mouth opened in surprise and then closed quickly to morph into a smirk. “Well…..I’m glad you have a plan. Maybe we can continue this discussion again soon…perhaps around December. What are your thoughts on Christmas specials?”

“I personally like a good Hallmark Christmas movie” Maria chimed in and then continued with a knowing smile, “Oh…did you forget I was in here too. Don’t let me interrupt all the sexual tension. This is my floor anyway.”

She was determined not to blush as Maria gave them one more teasing glance before stepping off of the elevator. She was 98% sure she pulled it off.

“So….” Phil said as he rocked on his feet a little next to her.

“So…?” She responded with a smile.

He clasps his hands behind his back and tried to appear laid back as he asked, “Is it too soon to ask you out again?”

Those stupid butterflies were back. “No…I don’t think so.” She replied and suddenly found herself studying the elevator safety instructions on the wall.

“Hmm…okay then…” he nodded “When can I take you out again?”

“I’m free all week unless a mission comes up.”

He turned to face her with a delighted smile. “How’s tonight then? Wait…that was too eager wasn’t it? We can try for later in the week…” he rambled as his smile faltered.

She finally turned to look at him as she interrupted with a smile, “Tonight is good”

“You don’t need to consult your TV guide?” He teased

She pretended to give it some thought as she replied, “Wait….what night is it? …. Oh, never mind….I already checked for tonight and there’s nothing good on, so…. I guess you’ll do.”

He gave a soft laugh, “Wow…you really know how to make a guy feel good, Melinda.”

The elevator chimed to let them off on their floor, and she turned to him with a devious smirk. “I’m actually very good at that, Phil. Stick around and I’ll prove it.”

She left him standing there in the elevator with his mouth opening and closing quickly as a blush spread across his cheeks.

  
He should have known that dating her would be an adventure. He’s always admired her quick whit, and it was even better when it came in the form of flirting. He just needed to learn how to keep his face from turning that embarrassing shade of pink when she did it in public.

He was distracted during the morning briefing, and Fury called him out on it twice. He should probably feel bad about it, but the very beautiful distraction known as Melinda May was a valid excuse. He had a second date to prepare for and couldn’t seem to keep himself from watching the clock all day. It felt like the day stretched on. He had seen Melinda briefly after lunch and confirmed a time to pick her up, but didn’t get a chance to see her the rest of the day. By the time he stepped out of a strategy meeting with Fury and Hill, she had already left for the day. He smiled thinking that she had gone home to prepare for a date with him.

He was only ten minutes early this time and was able to go straight to her door instead of driving around the block a few times. He adjusted his tie and reached out to knock. He only had to wait for a moment before the door opened and his heart started racing. He’d never met anyone he found as beautiful as her, and he was a bit awestruck still that she had agreed to go out with him at all, let alone twice.

He beamed at her as he held up his arms for her to see. “Look! Cufflinks!” He said with a boyish smile. She returned his smile with a shake of her head.

“I see that. You clean up well, Phil.” She praised and his smile grew impossibly larger.

He was carful to keep his eyes locked on hers rather than look her over like he wanted to. He knew the deep purple dress fit her well, but she could be covered in mud wearing tactical gear and he’d still be just as awestruck by her.

“You’re very beautiful, Melinda.” He responded a moment later, and his heart thudded as a soft blush spread across her cheek.

They stood there a moment longer before he finally asked, “This dating thing is really awkward with us isn’t it?”

“Oh it is sooo awkward.” She agreed.

He nodded and took a deep breath before suggesting, “We should probably stop now and just cut our losses.”

“I think it would be best.” She said.

He nodded in agreement before the boyish smile covered his face again. “Yeah….so…you ready to go?”

Her returning smile was just as bright as she eagerly replied, “Absolutely! Where are you taking me?”

“Dinner first, and then…I actually need you to bring some casual clothes and shoes to change into.” He informed with an excited spark in his eyes. 

She raised a brow with suspicion as she inquired, “And just why do I need that?”

He shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s a surprise.”

“I hate surprises.” She reminded him with a hard stare.

His expression softened, and he brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes. “I know, but do you trust me?”

She didn’t hesitate but simply turned to head back into her apartment. “I’ll go grab my stuff” she threw over her shoulder as she walked into her bedroom to grab her things. He stood by the door falling just a little more in love with her as he waited.

Dinner was good, but he would have been content eating hot dogs from a food truck if it meant sitting across from Melinda and having a valid excuse for staring at her. The next location was a good twenty minute drive away, but he didn’t mind that either. He watched her face carefully as they arrived at their destination.

  
She looked over at him with a gleam in her eyes that he found to be equal parts scary and enticing. “You know I’m going to destroy you.” She stated with a smile.

He smiled and nodded as he agreed, “Oh…I have no doubt….But…I bet I can make you work for it.”

“Game on Coulson. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

They walked into the warehouse and he talked with the owner, Jack, while she changed into the clothes and shoes she had brought with her. He smiled thinking that she looked just as stunning in jeans and sneakers as she did in the nice dress and heels she wore for dinner.

He was so gone on her.

Jack was an old friend of his that owned a small weapons training facility that SHIELD agents used to work on their marksmanship skills. He had a wide variety of blades to choose from and wooden targets mounted on the wall to aim at. Most agents used it for competition as much as training, and he knew that Melinda never turned down the chance to compete at something, especially if it involved sharp objects she could throw at things. Jack showed them to the area set up with various targets and weapons he had prepared for them. They each picked up a set of knives, and Phil rolled his eyes when he saw her pick up an axe as well.

They moved to where the wooden target was set up, and she turned to him with a smile. “So…how do you want to do this? Winner gets to make the Loser do something they want?”

He shook his head with a laugh. “Oh no. I’m confident that you’ll beat me, and I know better than to give you that kind of power over me. I had something different in mind.”

She crossed her arms and waited with a smirk. “I’m listening.”

He mimicked her stance before supplying, “For every bullseye that I hit, you have to tell me something about yourself that I don’t know.”

“And for every one that I hit?” She asked with an arched brow.

He shrugged. “You make the terms.”

She smiled, and the glint in her eye looked dangerous. “Fine. For every one that I hit….let’s see….okay…for every one that I hit, you have to….tell me something you like about me.”

His brow arched as he thought it over before nodding in agreement, “Huh…..okay. I agree to your terms, Melinda; Ladies first.”

She stepped up to the mark and gave him a quick wink before closing her eyes and throwing the knife at the target. The blade hit dead center of the bullseye.

“So….what do you like about me, Phil?” She asked as she opened her eyes and looked straight at him without even glancing toward the target.

He shook his head with a grin as he slipped off his jacket and began removing his cuff links.  
“You’re the most impressive fighter I’ve ever seen. I’ve taken a hit more than once while we were on a mission because I was distracted watching you take someone out.

She smiled as she pulled her knife from the wood and gestured for Phil to take his turn. He finished rolling up his sleeves before grabbing a knife from the table and stepping toward the mark. His blade connected smoothly with the bullseye. He’d never admit that he had come for an hour during his lunch break to practice. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at her with a smirk as he waited for her to speak.

She playfully rolled her eyes before confessing, “My father used to take me skating.”

He shook his head and chastised her for not playing along, “I already knew about you and Dorthy Hamilton. You’re supposed to tell me something I don’t know; try again.”

“This was after I gave it up. Sometimes my father would offer to take me with him to run some errands for my mother, but he would really be sneaking me to the frozen pond a mile down the road. My mother thought it was a waste of time, but my father loved to watch me skate. He used to always give my mother some crazy excuse for why it took us so long, but I’m pretty sure she knew and just never said anything. Anyway….it was just this secret thing between me and him.”

He smiled fondly as he retrieved his knife from the target and questioned, “When do I get to see you skate?”

She smirked and stepped up to take her turn. “When you can actually beat me at this.”

“Well…I think I just found my motivation.” He teased as he watched her knife catch within the outer edge of the bullseyes.

She crossed her arms and waited for him to fulfill his end of the agreement.

“You’re the best agent SHIELDs ever had, and I really like being your partner.”

The spark in her eyes dimmed a little as his praise once again focused more on work than personal appreciation. It was enough to distract him and his next turn hit outside of the bullseye.

Hers did not.

He blushed a little and looked over the knives as he confessed, “You’re incredibly beautiful. The most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” He looked up at her in time to see her cheeks flush and the spark in her eyes grow brighter once more.

His next throw hit the target.

It was her turn to study the knives as she admitted, “I had a crush on you at the academy. You wore those dorky glasses, and you were such a nerd….”

“Hey!” He interrupted.

She laughed softly before continuing. “But I thought you were kind of cute.”

She looked over and saw the satisfied smile on his face so she added, “Don’t let it go to your head.”

“I really was trying to be a gentleman on that undercover mission.” He admitted as she pulled her next throw from the center of the target. “I mean…I was a little nervous to be that umm….close…to you, but I was really trying to not do anything that would make you uncomfortable. You’ve always been very important to me, Melinda, and you deserve nothing short of a gentleman. I’ve just always wanted to take care of you in that way. I know it’s dumb because you obviously don’t need me to protect you in anyway…but…” he trailed off as he took a step closer to her. 

“I don’t think it’s dumb.” She replied softly. “It’s just the kind of man you are, Phil. It’s one of my favorite things about you…how you trust me on a mission to get the job done, but how careful and protective you are with my heart. You make me feel valued.”

He smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear. “You’re the most valuable thing in my world, Melinda.” He whispered, and her heart skipped at his words. His hand moved to cradle her cheek, and her heart raced with anticipation as he leaned in. His lips were so close she could feel his breath ghost across her own. She closed her eyes and leaned in to meet him when they heard Jack approaching and took a step apart.

“You guys all done, or do you want to throw a few more rounds?” Jack asked as he walked up oblivious to what he had just interrupted.

“I think we’re good,” Melinda answered and she started to gather the knives that they had been using.

Phil sighed in disappointment as he helped her return the blades they had borrowed.

It was late when he walked her back to her door.

“So….I was thinking maybe I could cook for you tomorrow night if you’re free. You could come to my place and we could do dinner and a movie. I mean…unless you already have plans for tomorrow night. Or maybe you think it’s too soon for us to go out again. I don’t want you to get tired of me because I smothered you or something.” He rambled as he rubbed his hand across the back of his neck.

“Phil,” she spoke up and effectively put an end to his rambling. “Would you like me to bring the movie?”

His smile grew across his face, and she just wanted to grab him by the tie and kiss him soundly.

  
“Sure,” he responded, “want to come over around six?”

She nodded with a smile of her own. “Six would be great.”

This time when he leaned in to kiss her goodnight, his lips just barely caught the corner of her lips, and he sighed at how soft they seemed to be.

Her eyes opened slowly, and she looked up at him with a soft smile. “You didn’t miss.”

“No….I really wanted to, but you deserve to be courted and pursued Melinda, and I have every intention of doing that.” He confessed with a bashful shrug of his shoulders. 

“And you can’t do that while kissing me?” She teased.

He reached down and took her hands in his own. “I’m 100% sure that once I kiss you I’m not going to want to stop,” he admitted as his thumbs brushed over the back of her hands. 

“Me either” she agreed.

He nodded and studied their hands for a moment before looking up at her and saying, “So I’m going to be a gentleman and do this right…even though you smell REALLY good!”

She nodded with a smirk before a soft “Goodnight, Phil” left her lips.

“Goodnight, sweetheart” he replied just as softly.

She gave him the sweetest smile before reaching up to place a kiss on his cheek. She was careful to make sure that her lips caught the corner of his. She lingered in his space for a second, hands clenching the lapels of his jacket as she gathered herself.

He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead and pulled her into his arms to hold her close for a moment.

“See you tomorrow,” he whispered and then watched as she turned and headed into her apartment.

He was pretty sure that no matter what movie she brought tomorrow night, all of his attention would be on her.

He couldn’t be more content.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And....the fluff continues

He checked the sauce and turned the burner down to allow it to simmer while the pasta cooked. He glanced over at the table wondering if he should light some candles or if that seemed like he was trying to set the mood. He had cooked for her before but never like this. Before, he had been trying to feed her, tonight he was trying to court her. He smiled thinking of how old fashioned he sounded using words like “court,” but he was determined to do this right. He had every intention of making this the last first time he cooked for a date, and he hoped she felt the same.

He had just drained the pasta and tossed it in the sauce when he heard the knock at his door. He nervously wiped his hands on the kitchen towel and moved to open the door.

“Nice…” she smirked when she saw him, and he glanced down to see that he was still wearing the Captain America apron his mother had given him last Christmas.

He blushed and moved to untie it. “I didn’t think you would be impressed if my clothes were all stained when you got here, but I had definitely intended to take it off before you arrived.”

“Oh…no need to take it off on my account, Captain. The colors of the shield really make your eyes pop.” She continued to tease as she followed him to the kitchen island. “Need any help?”

He raised his brow, before declining her offer with a shake of his head. “Umm…no thanks. You just stay far away from the food, and it will be ready soon.”

“Far away? I’m not that bad of a cook!” She stated with arms crossed defensively.

He smirked as he reminded her, “Ha…yeah right. Tell that to the chicken you cooked that night.”

“It was one time!” She replied indignantly. “I was just distracted.”

His smirk morphed into a teasing smile. “You got the bottles of cumin and cinnamon mixed up. It was so gross!”

Her mouth dropped open and she threw his beloved apron at his chest. “You ate it!!!”

“Because I had a huge crush on you, and I didn’t want to hurt your feelings!” He explained as he caught the apron and tried not to blush.

Her eyes narrowed, and she crossed her arms over her chest as she accused, “Oh…so you don’t mind hurting my feelings now?”

“Well played, Melinda…..well played.” He took a deep sigh before continuing. “Okay, fine. Come over here and help with the salad. I can trust you to chop things up.”

“Thank you.” She said before washing her hands and joining him at the island counter.

They finished preparing dinner without incident; and Phil admitted that she does have some skill in the kitchen, and he might trust her to help again sometime. She continued to tease him over dinner, and he was so undone by the playful glint in her eyes that he didn’t even mind. He loved her playful side.

He loved her.

She insisted on helping him clean up dinner, and she washed the dishes while he dried. He thought she was being sweet until the sprayer kept “accidentally” slipping and just “happened” to be pointed in his direction when it went off. His shirt was soaked, and her apologies were totally not convincing. He saw the next time coming and held up the plate he was drying just in time to catch the spray of water she was sending in his direction. The water hit the plate perfectly, and her scream of surprise as the water deflected back towards her was so worth his own soaked shirt.

She was drenched.

And he was scared.

She stood there silent and dripping.

This is the day he dies.

“Umm….sorry…you had missed a spot on the plate, so I thought you’d want to try again.” He said with a smirk.

She stood there for a moment; but then her eyes narrowed, and he did the only thing he knew to do in such a situation.

He ran.

“Seriously! I’m dating a child!” She yelled after him.

“You sprayed me first!” He shouted back as he rounded the couch and felt like prey being stalked by a much more advanced predator.

She took slow measured steps toward him, and he swallowed hard before trying to reason with her. “You know…you really did a great job chopping up the stuff for the salad tonight. I think we should cook together more often. I totally underestimated your skills.”

“Uh huh” she responded as she continued to move closer to him.

He moved to make sure that the couch stayed between them. “Also…you look so beautiful. Like…you could totally pass for a super model if a mission ever required that. Also you win…at everything…You’re the best. No contest!…..Please don’t hurt me.” He pleaded.

She continued to stalk him, and he quickly scanned the room for a plausible escape route. Then his training as a strategist kicked in, and he had a plan. He allowed her to get just close enough that she thought she had him before jumping over the back of the couch and sprinting towards his bedroom. She was right behind him, but he had anticipated that.

As soon as she crossed the threshold into his room, he struck his arm out from where he had pressed himself against the wall and wrapped it around her waist. He used her momentary surprise to pull her into his arms and press her against the wall,

They were both breathing hard and grinning like idiots.

He had one hand resting on her hip and the other pressed to the wall by her head. He leaned in to kiss her cheek, but her whispered “Please don’t miss” had him changing directions.

Her lips were even softer than they looked, and his heart was hammering in his chest. He intended for the kiss to be chaste, but she was kissing him back and everything in that moment was perfect.

When he finally did pull away, his chest tightened at the look on her face. Her lips were slightly swollen; and her eyes were still closed; the smile on her face made his heart feel full. He wanted to tell her he loved her but placed a kiss to her forehead to stall the words. It was too soon for that confession, and he wasn’t sure she’d even want to hear it.

Her eyes opened and she tiptoed up to place another soft kiss on his lips.

He stepped back to give her some space, and busied himself at his dresser to allow his heart rate to lower. Finding what he was looking for, he tossed his favorite Captain America shirt at her.

“I thought you might like something dry to wear for the movie.” He explained at her arched brow.

She smirked before questioning suspiciously, “And you just happened to have a Captain America shirt available for me to wear?”

“It’s the first one I grabbed.” He shrugged and tossed the smallest pair of sweats that he owned at her. “Stop whining…it’s dry.”

She walked past him to head to his bathroom to change and remarked, “I’m not whining…just find it quite convenient that I’m going to be wearing a shirt with your hero’s emblem on it. Wasn’t sure if this was some nerd fantasy of yours….”

He planned to deny it, but she smirked at him before closing the door to change.

It was totally his fantasy.

He changed into sweats and a dry shirt before heading to the living room to set up their movie.

He was finishing the popcorn when she came out, and he blushed at the sight of his dream girl wearing his favorite shirt. Fantasy indeed.

She settled on the couch with a knowing smirk, and he tried to get it together as he joined her. She leaned into his side as the movie started, and he took the invitation to wrap his arm around her and pull her a little closer. Her sweet smile had him placing a lingering kiss to her temple and her eyes closed at the contact.

He wasn’t even sure what movie they were watching, but halfway through she placed the popcorn on the end table and pulled her feet up under her. Fifteen minutes after that he repositioned them so that he was stretched out on the couch and she was pressed between him and the back cushions with her head on his shoulder and hand on his chest.

It was definitely the best movie he had ever pretended to watch.

They watched the bonus features, blooper real, behind the scenes, and deleted scenes. Neither of them wanted it to be over. He tightened his grip around her waist and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. Her finger tips traced lazy patterns across his chest, and he would swear that he had never been this content in his entire life.

It made him dream of a lifetime of nights spent like this and long for the chance to work towards that life with her.

“I really like dating you, Phil.” She whispered, and he smiled and pressed his cheek to the crown of her head.

His free hand wrapped around the one she had on his chest as he replied, “I really like dating you too, Melinda. We should keep doing it.”

She smiled into his chest. “I’d like that.”

“Mmm…good.” He whispered back and his fingers stroked her hip.

They laid like that another half hour before he heard her yawn.

“I should probably head home,” she admitted with a sigh.

He responded with a sigh of his own and inquired, “Plans tomorrow night?”

She picked her head up to look at him with a look of regret, “Yeah…I’m having dinner with Maria tomorrow night. Are you free the next night.”

The hopeful look in her eyes made his heart skip, and he stroked the back of her hand as he responded, “I’m all yours.”

“Mmm…” she replied with a smirk and leaned down to press a slow sweet kiss to his lips. “Good….I’ll cook you dinner at my place.”

He was too smart to let the fear show on his face and instead pressed a kiss to her lips before they both moved to get up from the couch. He held her hand as he walked her to the door.

“See you tomorrow night” she promised and pressed her hands to his chest as he gave her one more lingering kiss.

He watched from the door way until she was out of sight, and he couldn’t seem to wipe the large dorky smile from his face as he got ready for bed. He picked up his phone and sent a quick text before brushing his teeth and completing his routine. He was just crawling into bed when his phone alerted him to a new message.

Melinda called him a dork, but confirmed that she had indeed made it home safe.

“Thank you for letting me know. I know you’re a warrior goddess that can take care of herself, but I’ll sleep better knowing you’re safe at home.”

“You’re such a dork…..but…I think I’ll keep you. Goodnight, Phil”

“Good night, Melinda”

He fell asleep missing the gentle pressure of her head on his chest and the warmth of her body against his side. His last thought before drifting off was that he’d do anything necessary to ensure he’d have a lifetime of nights like tonight.

Oh how he loved her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry guys....but I think it managed to get even fluffier. Consider yourself warned if that isn't your thing.

She planned meticulously, had her mother walk her through the recipe, and made sure it called for neither cumin or cinnamon. She checked over everything at least five times to be safe, and tried to ignore the nervous jitters in her stomach that warned her something was going to go wrong. She checked her clothes and make up one last time before the doorbell rang, and she opened the door to a very handsome Phil Coulson. She found his suit and tie to be very sexy, but there was also something to be said about the jeans and soft sweater he wore now.

He kissed her cheek in greeting, but she hadn’t seen him outside of work in two days and she missed him. She reached up to press her lips to his, and he readily reciprocated. Her hand brushed the hair at the back of his neck, and he moaned against her lips. She broke away just long enough to take his hand and gently tug him into her apartment, but the moment her door closed she met his lips again. His attention to her bottom lip was heaven, and she would be content to spend the evening just kissing him; but then the tingling of a warning triggered in the back of her brain moments before she smelled it.

Dinner.

She broke apart with a look of alarm, and the look or rapture on his face soon turned to confusion.

  
“No….” She moaned, and then realization hit him too along with the smell.

He quickly followed her into the kitchen just in time to watch her fling open the oven door to release a cloud of smoke. He reacted quickly and found a pan to fan it with before it could set off her smoke alarm.

Her shoulders slumped, and she bit her lip in embarrassment that she had confirmed his suspicions that she was not a great cook. She closed her eyes and waited for his teasing remark. Instead he moved around her to pull the smoking pan from the oven and disposed of the burnt offering she had prepared. He tied up the bag so that the smell didn’t linger and turned to her with a soft smile.

“I guess we got distracted….but in my defense….you’re a really great kisser.”

Her smile was a mix of relief and adoration, and she marveled at how a man as good as Phil Coulson could want to be with her.

“I’m sorry I ruined your dinner.” He apologized with a blush before continuing. “I can take you out somewhere to make it up to you if you want.”

She couldn’t possibly deserve him.

“Actually….let’s stay in and make something here.” She suggested but then realized she might not have anything in her panty to really work with. “I have bread.” She offered.

His smile made his eyes look brighter, and he opened the fridge to pull out butter and cheese. “I make the best grilled cheese sandwiches.” He explained, and she smiled as she pulled out a pan for him.

“Think you can make it without your fanboy apron” she teased as she stepped next to him to help him pull out ingredients.

He smirked and pressed a kiss to her cheek before replying, “Prepare to be impressed, Melinda May.”

She already was.

She hopped up to sit on the edge of the counter while he worked, and he swatted at her hand when she tried to steal some cheese from the bowl. This feeling of domesticity would usually alarm her, but she found herself comfortable in a way she never expected. She stole glances at him and her heart thudded in her chest as she allowed her eyes to trace the curve of his jaw, his lips, his broad shoulders. She was certainly physically attracted to him, but what really drew her to him was the man that he was. He would do anything for anyone, but being his best friend came with late night phone calls to keep her awake on flights back from missions, soup and gatorade deliveries when she was sick, cheesy jokes to make her smile when she was having a rough day, and patching her up when she was injured. He was always so gentle and protective with her, but he always trusted her to take charge in the field. Never once did he falter in his faith in her and her abilities as an operative. He never tried to hold her back in the field and more than once acknowledged that her skill and abilities saved their lives and the mission. He empowered her in the field but was the softest and gentlest with her the moment the mission was complete. His faith in her was more than she ever felt worthy of.

And dating him….dating him was by far the greatest thing she’d ever experienced. The thrill of a completed mission had nothing on the feeling of being held and kissed by that man. Her eyes drifted back to his lips to find them curved in a satisfied smirk, and she new she’d been caught staring at him. She’d really like to kiss that smirk off of his face.

She rolled her eyes playfully, and he flipped the sandwiches to brown the other side before moving to step between her legs. Her position on the counter gave her the perfect height for threading her hands in his hair and pulling his lips to hers. He kissed her thoroughly before pulling away to move the pan off the burner. Once he was sure their second attempt at dinner wouldn’t burn, he moved his hands to her waist to anchor himself as his lips moved hungrily over hers.

Kissing had never felt like this before. It was more than pleasure, it was a connection to him; another barrier crossed; another piece of herself that he held close, and she found herself tethered to him in a way that brought hope rather than the fear she expected.

He pulled away with a smile before pulling a couple of glasses from her cupboard and handing them to her.

“Make yourself useful.” He said with a teasing smile, and she rolled her eyes as she got down from the counter to put ice in the glasses. She finished setting the table as he joined her with dinner.

“Maria mentioned you last night,” she said between bites of grilled cheese. “She wants to set you up with Sarah from administration. She thinks you might hit it off.”

He chewed slowly before responding, “Sarah? Oh she’s cute.”

She shook her head with a smirk. “That’s fine…she wants to set me up with Agent Caulders.” She threw back.

He pretended to think for a moment. “Wait…did you say Sarah? Oh she’s hideous. Tell Maria I said no way.”

“Uh huh…I had a feeling you wouldn’t be interested.” She smirked and threw a piece of bread crust at his chest.

“Did you tell her we were dating?” He asked.

She smiled and shook her head. “No, I did not.”

“Well _can_ you tell her if she actually tries to set you up with Agent Caulders? Or..anyone who isn’t me?” He request as he picks up their empty plates to head to the sink.

She smirked. “Want me to wear a ‘Property of Phil Coulson’ shirt next time I go out?” She asked as she joined him by the sink.

He gave an exaggerated sigh of relief. “Actually, yeah…that would be great. I’m so glad you suggested that. It might have been awkward for me to ask. I had a few made up for you. I’ll bring them to work tomorrow”

She shook her head with a grin, “You do that, and I’ll tell you were you can put them.”

“Oh, no need! I think I’m going to forget to bring them.” He said with a suddenly serious expression.

She put the left over ingredients in the fridge with a grin. “Uh huh….smart plan, Coulson”

“Yeah…I thought so too.” He replied with a kiss to her cheek as he washed their plates and handed them to her to dry.

Once the kitchen was cleaned up, they settled onto the couch for a movie. She handed him a throw pillow and waited for him to stretch out and get comfortable before settling between his side and the back cushions. She relaxed in his arms and the steady rhythm of his heartbeat beneath her cheek brought a contented smile to her lips.

As the credits rolled she picked up her head enough to see that Phil was sound asleep. She watched him for a moment and considered pressing a kiss to his lips to wake him, but instead she carefully leaned over him to grab the remote. Once she had turned off the tv she pulled the blanket from the back of the couch over them and settled back against his chest.

“Good night, Melinda” he whispered and tightened his arms around her as he pressed a kiss to her head.

She smiled as she closed her eyes. It was a very good night indeed.


	5. Chapter 5

He woke up holding her. She skipped her work out that morning to have more time curled up on the couch with him, and he was grinning like an idiot non-stop all day. He smiled all the way home to shower and change, and then he was positively beaming when he saw her at work later. He should probably be embarrassed at how big of a sap he was turning into, but she had the faintest blush on her cheeks when she saw him, and he chuckled to himself when she rolled her eyes.

She was deployed on a mission later that afternoon.

He hasn’t seen or spoken to her in two weeks. His clearance allowed him access to her mission log so he knew she was safe, but he missed her…a lot. He’d be happy just to get to talk to her, but her team was radio silent and only checked in with command at the designated times twice a day.

“Seriously, why are you so mopey?” Hill asked as she sat across from him at lunch. “You look like you’ve lost your best friend.”

He continued to push his food around his plate. “I’m not mopey.”

“Wait…that’s it isn’t? You’re all sad and depressed because May is gone….And you are totally mopey.” She confirmed and pointed her fork at him for emphasis.

He tried to protest, but she continued, “You totally have a thing for her. Clint and I have been saying that since day one. We have bets going to see how long you pine before you finally get the balls to make a move. You’ve still got another month before Clint runs out of time.”

“You need a hobby….and I need better friends…. and I am not pining.” He argued.

She just smirked at him and took another bite of food. “I think you just need to accept defeat, Phil. Melinda May is in a class of her own. I love you buddy, and I think you’re great; but she’s a little out of your league.”

“Really? A little out of my league?” He asked with a smile.

She took another bite before responding, “Well…more like..she’s in the major leagues and you’re the guy that paints the lines on the field.”

“Well…one…chew with your mouth closed,” he said and threw his napkin at her when she started to exaggerate her chewing to show more of her food. “And two…that was hurtful.”

She sighed and reached across to pat his hand. “I’m sorry, Phil, but it needed to be said. Now you can move on….I know this girl, Sarah….”

“I’m good!” He interrupted. “I’m actually already seeing someone.”

That piqued her curiosity. “Oh yeah? Is it the musician girl that played at Stark’s party? The one that kept flirting with you?”

“I don’t think asking me where the restrooms were located counts as flirting….but okay.” He said as he leaned back into his chair.

“It does when she asks you four times.” She huffed.

He shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s not the Cellist.”

“Then who?” She asked, but he just smiled and dropped enough cash on the table to cover both their lunches as he stood to leave.

“Would you look at the time! Not all of us can’t flirt our way out of trouble with Fury if we’re late, so I should probably head back to work. This was fun.”

“Oh come on! And I do not flirt my way out of trouble!” She started, but he just raised his brow. “I have not flirted my way out of trouble today!” She amended.

He just smiled and slipped his jacket back on.

“Call me when things don’t work out with your mystery woman. I think you and Sarah would make a cute couple.” She suggested, but he just shook his head.

“No thanks, Maria. I have a really good feeling about this one.” He said and walked away before she could ask any more questions.

He would absolutely agree that Melinda was way out of his league. He wasn’t sure what she saw in him or why she was even giving him a chance, but he was determined to make sure she never had a reason to regret it. He still had several hours until her team was due to check-in, and he was grateful for the stack of paperwork and mission reports to distract him while he waited.

He waited around an extra couple of hours, but her team didn’t check-in. His lingering in the office was starting to grate on Fury’s nerves, so he bribed a guy in Communications to text him when they finally contacted control. He was a bundle of nerves waiting. He scrubbed his already spotless apartment from top to bottom, cooked dinner, pushed that dinner around his plate for a while, and rearranged his book collection. He even sent out a few “test” text to make sure his phone was working. He chewed on his lip as he stared at the phone and considered how bad it would be if he called his new contact to check. He decided to just roll the dice and go with it, but before he could hit the final digit there was a knock on his door.

His stomach knotted. Fury may not know that they were dating, but he knew they were partners and friends, and he would give him the courtesy of telling him in person if something had gone wrong on her mission. A feeling of dread settled over him as he forced his feet toward the door. He took a deep steadying breath before opening the door, and it cleared his lungs in a rush when he saw her.

Melinda.

“Hi..I’m sorry it’s late but I…” she started to explain, but her words were cut off by him pulling her quickly into his arms. She smiled and wrapped her arms around his waist as she pressed her face into the curve of his neck and shoulder.

He held her tight for a moment more before pulling away to cup her face between his hands. He placed a long slow kiss upon her lips and then pulled away to see her smiling brightly.

“I really like the new welcome wagon.” She said as her eyes opened.

He gave a relieved laugh as he took her hand and led her into the apartment closing the door behind them.

She dropped her go-bag on the floor by the door, and it suddenly occurred to him that she was still in her ops clothes.

“You haven’t been home yet?” He questioned.

She shook her head with a slight coloring of her cheeks. “I haven’t seen you in two weeks, and Agent Carlos said you seemed concerned when we didn’t check in. I didn’t want you to worry, so I told him I’d take care of letting you know we were back. He mentioned something about still wanting the hundred dollars you owe him…”

It was his turn to blush. “Yeah….anyway. You’re probably exhausted. You could have just called.”

She glanced down and shrugged. “It’s been two weeks….I just needed to see you.”

He pulled her into his arms again and placed a kiss on her forehead. “I needed to see you too.”

He brushed her hair behind her ear before placing one last kiss on her lips. He let her go and went back to where she left her bag and brought it to her.

“Why don’t you go grab a shower, and then I can drive you home….or you’re welcome to sleep here.” He suggested unsure if he was pushing something that would make her uncomfortable. Her answering smile put him at ease, but then she sighed.

“I’m all out of clean clothes. This mission took longer than we anticipated and laundry wasn’t a priority.” She explained.

He smiled and headed into his room. “Well ma’am, it’s your lucky day. I’ve had plenty of time to wash that Captain America shirt you love so much so you can sleep in that. We can throw your clothes in the wash so you’ll have something to wear tomorrow.” He said as he came out of his room carrying the shirt and sweats she borrowed before.

She smirked and kissed his lips as she looked at the offered clothes. “Whatever turns you on, Phil.” She threw over her shoulder as she stepped into his bathroom.

He stood there smiling until he heard the water turn on and then headed into the kitchen to make them some tea.

He was sitting on the couch with two steaming mugs when she stepped back into the living room.

“Those for me?” She questioned as she pointed to the pillow and blanket stacked neatly at the foot of the couch.

“Of course not!” He replied. “You can have the bed. I’ll take the couch.”

She raised a brow and perched her hands on her hips. “Seriously? You haven’t seen me in two weeks, and you’re going to sleep on the couch?”

“I’m being a gentleman!” He exclaimed and she rolled her eyes with a smirk.

She sighed and took the tea he offered her. “You’re being a dork, Phil.”

“Chivalry is not dead, Melinda. Stop trying to kill it.” He argued with a smile and took a sip of tea.

She sighed and gave him an exasperated look over the rim of her mug. “Look…if I promise not to steal your virtue, will you come to bed?”

“Fine…but the second you start trying to cop a feel I am heading to the couch!” He said as he finished his tea.

She smirked and shook her head. “Fine.”

“You’re already undressing me with your eyes…I can tell. Keep it together, May.” He said as he stood to take their empty mugs to the sink.

“Forget it…you’re on the couch….and I’m taking your pillow!”

He held up both mug laden hands in mock surrender. “Fine….you can undress me with your eyes. I’ll even let you take a mental photograph to fuel your fantasies later, but I draw the line at you bragging to all your friends.”

She chuckled as she stood to head towards his bedroom. “Ughh you just ruined my weekend plans… Now shut up and come to bed, Phil.”

His smile made his eyes look brighter. “Yes, dear.” He teased and followed her into his room.

He slid into bed and turned on his side so that they were facing each other. He brushed her hair out of her face with a contented smile.

“You’re such a dork.” She said with a playful roll of her eyes as she tried to hide a smile.

His smile just grew as he countered, “Yeah…but you like it.”

She shrugged, “Well, I don’t hate it.”

“Victory!” He cheered and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead.

She pressed closer to him and sighed happily.

“Welcome home, sweetheart,” he whispered as he closed his eyes.

They both fell asleep thinking that word, “home” had a whole new meaning now. 


	6. Chapter 6

He woke up alone this time and stared at the ceiling with a sigh. The place beside him had grown cold so she must have left a while ago. He pushed down his disappointment and got up to start his morning routine. The thought of seeing Melinda again at work was the motivation he needed to make the bed and head into the kitchen for coffee.

He paused in the doorway as he watched her finishing up her tai chi routine in the middle of his living room.

She stayed.

She still wore his shirt and sweats and her ponytail was a bit messy. He smiled fondly at the sight before him, and he leaned against the doorframe to enjoy the view. She smirked without bothering to glance in his direction and rolled her eyes as she finished out her last pose.

“It’s rude to stare, Phil.” She said with an amused smile as she took a sip from the water bottle in her hand.

He pushed off the doorway with a grin as he headed toward the kitchen. “Then stop presenting such an exquisite view, Melinda.”

“Such a sap.” She teased and pressed a kiss to his cheek as she passed him to add water to the coffee pot as he prepared the grounds.

Next, he pulled tea bags from the cabinet while she filled the kettle, and he smiled at how seamlessly they moved in tandem.

“You were up early.” He remarked as he put the kettle on the stove to boil.

“I needed to wash some clothes so I didn’t have to wear this to work today.” She grinned, and he gripped the mentioned t-shirt and used it to tug her to him.

Her arms slid around his neck and the fingers brushing through his hair made him shiver.  
He pressed a lingering kiss to her lips before responding, “I think you look great in this.”

“Of course you do, nerd” she grinned and reached up to kiss his lips again.

He would have been content to spend the day kissing her in the middle of his kitchen, but the kettle whistled and the dryer beeped. They pulled apart reluctantly and each moved toward the different signals.

She took a shower while he made them breakfast, and he felt like a ball of energy getting ready. She was back and getting ready in his bathroom, and all was right in his world.

They drove separately to work so that she would have her car, and he only glanced in his mirror at her twice. Well, three times, but she only rolled her eyes at him twice.

She had a couple of things to take care of before the morning meeting so they parted ways in the lobby. He found himself alone in the elevator with Maria.

“Good Morning Agent Coulson, you sure seem to be in a good mood this morning? Seems you’re not so mopey any more. Would that have anything to do with Agent May’s return? That was her I saw in the lobby, right?” She inquired with a knowing smirk.

He worked to keep his face completely neutral as he responded, “Yes, it seems she is back from her latest mission.”

“Uh-huh, and now you’re all happy again.” She teased.

“Actually, I think it’s my new tie.” He said as he lifted it up for her to see. “It’s got stripes!”

She rolled her eyes and leaned against the elevator wall to study him. “Yeah, Phil, you look like a love-struck fool because you have stripes on your tie.”

He smiled and smoothed his tie back down. “Uh-huh, …they’re blue stripes! I think they really draw attention to my eyes. What do you think?”

“I think that you should just admit that you like, May” she replied with a smug look.

He nodded with a smile as he responded, “Well, of course, I like May, she’s my friend.”

“I mean that you ‘like’ like her.” She prompted.

He gave her a thoughtful look as he leaned back against the opposite wall with his arms crossed over his chest. “Is there a different kind of like? Is there like a ‘dislike’ like her? That’s always confused me a bit….like how is there a difference? You just repeated the word.”

“Ughh…I hate you.” She said with narrowed eyes.

He just grinned at her as he replied, “That’s okay cause I like you. I ‘like’ like you, and totally don’t ‘dislike’ like you. See how weird that is? Where do people even come up with this stuff?”

“Goodbye, Phil.” She said as she pushed off the wall when the doors opened on their floor.

“Bye Maria. Wait…what did you think about my tie? Did you ‘like’ like it?” He asked.

The finger she held up as she walked out of the elevator did not mean he was “#1” but it made him laugh. He headed into the conference room for his morning meeting and tried to ignore the angry looks that Maria kept sending him. She seemed especially irritated when May slipped into the meeting and rather than look in her direction, he adjusted his new tie. It was too much fun to mess with her.

He was in a strategy meeting with Fury and Hill for the rest of the day. When he finally got out, she was gone; and he tried to tamp down the disappointment that he didn’t get to say goodbye to her. He knew how much she enjoyed her solitude and remembered that she had been on a mission for a couple of weeks with a strike team and then with him last night. She probably needed some time to herself. This was all new, and he didn’t want to make her tired of him. He’d check on her later to say goodnight. The buzzing of his phone stole his attention, and he fished it out of his pocket.

“Why did Maria ask me if I bought you a tie?” Came the response as soon as he answered.

He grinned as he walked out of the lobby toward the parking garage. “Cause she’s Maria, and she’s fishing for answers. Did she mentioned if she liked it?”

“No. Just asked if I gave it to you. Your meeting took forever.”

“I know” he sighed, “I was hoping to see you before you left.”

“Well then you’re in luck”

He stopped searching for his keys and looked up to see her leaning against Lola with her phone pressed to her ear.

“Hi,” she said with a smirk, and his smile grew across his face.

“Hi,” he said and placed his phone back in his pocket as he moved toward her. He stopped short of touching her when he remembered where they were.

“I was hoping I could talk you into dinner”

“You’re not sick of me yet?” He asked with a grin

She shook her head. “Not yet.”

“Good! Hop in.” He said as he moved to open the passenger door for her. “We can come back for your car after dinner.”

“Or tomorrow,” she said and then the faintest blush spread across her cheeks. “I grabbed some clothes on my lunch break” she admitted and held up the duffle bag in her hand for him to see.

He opened his mouth to reply but his heart was pounding in his ears and the words got stuck. She took his lack of response as a bad sign and started to backtrack. “We could just come get my car after dinner. I didn’t mean to…”

“Actually,” he interrupted, “I was just thinking that we could pick something up and eat in tonight. Maybe watch a movie.”

She smiled and passed him her bag to put into the trunk while she slid into the passenger seat. “That sounds perfect” she agreed.

He couldn’t stop smiling as he placed her bag in the trunk and then moved into the driver seat.

He had yet to find anything about dating Melinda May that wasn’t perfect.


	7. Chapter 7

“Put it down slowly, Phil. Just…put it down and we walk out of here…together.” She pleaded desperately.

He shook his head. “You should have run when you had the chance, Melinda. I told you to run.”

“You knew I wouldn’t,” she said and calculated how many steps it would take to get to him and if she would even be fast enough if she attempted it.

“Yeah….I knew.” He conceded.

She just needed to keep him talking until back up could arrive so she continued in a soothing tone, “Just look at me, Phil. Everything is going to be fine. I just need you to carefully put it on the ground”

“Like this?” He asked, and the look in his eyes made her blood run cold. There was no time to run as it flew from his hands and landed right at her feet. She moved her hands up to protect her face as she tried helplessly to move out of the blast zone.

She wasn’t fast enough.

The water splashed up her legs and soaked her pants and shirt. It was ice cold and she yelped at the contact.

Phil just laughed and picked up another water balloon from his bucket. “I gave you a chance to run, Melinda. I was trying to be a gentleman,” he remarked with a delighted grin as he ducked behind a car.

“You are a dead man, Phil Coulson!” She promised and moved to grab her own bucket.

Just then Maria approached from her left. “You’re late.” Melinda grimaced and pushed the wet hair from her face.

“Sorry, I took out Garrett. It required half my bucket, but it was totally worth it. Where’s Coulson?”

“Hiding behind that car….LIKE A SCARED CHILD!” Melinda shouted so that she could be sure Phil would hear her.

His amused chuckle confirmed that he did.

“Hand is going to be here in a minute. Coulson and Blake are the only guys left, and we’ve got us, Hand, and Weaver. We can signal Hand and Weaver to take out Blake, and we can handle Coulson.” She whispered.

“Good idea” Melinda conceded with a nod as she watched the car for any sign of movement. “What’s our play?”

“Well…” Maria smirked, “You could always go flirt with Coulson…make him think you’re interested, and he has a chance. You could take one for the team and promise him a date if he just surrenders.”

“I need a real plan here, Maria,” she said with a roll of her eyes.

“What was wrong with that plan? I bet it would work. Just try it and we’ll see.” She pleaded with a smirk.

“Fine” she agreed with a devious glint in her eyes, “Hey, Phil….Maria will go on a date with you if you just surrender!”

“Hey!” Maria complained with a shove to Melinda’s side.

“What? You told me to promise him a date!” She asked with mock innocence.

She groaned, “With you! A date with you!”

“Oh….my bad.” Melinda shrugged.

“Sorry! Hill’s not my type!” Phil shouted from his hiding place.

“I’m a great catch!” Maria called back “You just prefer women who are tiny Asian ninjas, and named Melinda May!”

“Not true! She doesn’t have to be tiny!” He responded resolutely, and Maria laughed.

“I could take both of you out right now.” Melinda reminded them, and they both stopped laughing.

Maria’s face took on a determined look.“The guys beat us last year. That cannot happen again.”

Last year had been a dark time indeed. It had been the first time in the eight years of competing in the SHIELD Men vs Women Water War that the boys had been able to best them. They were determined to never let it happen again.

“Okay….you keep him talking, and I’m going to come around the back,” Melinda suggested with a whisper.

“You sure?” Maria asked, but a determined look stole over Melinda’s face.

“I’m wet and freezing. Phil Coulson is mine, and I will make him pay dearly.”

Maria nodded her head and dramatically put a fist to her lips. “I have never been so proud.”

Melinda rolled her eyes and grabbed her bucket of ammo. With a final nod, she slipped off and out of sight.

“You know, Coulson….I could still hook you up with my friend, Sarah. She’s much more your….speed. She’s been asking about you for weeks now.” Maria suggested and tried to get a look over the crates she was hiding behind to make sure he was still behind the car.

“No thanks,” He called back, “I’m good. I think I should just date myself for a while. You know…get to know ME. I know it’s a bit presumptuous…but I’ve already picked out a six month anniversary present for myself. I’m going to love it!”

“Ughh…how are we even friends?!” She whined.

He laughed and went to tease her some more, but a familiar figure came into his line of sight. She placed a finger over her lips to signal his silence and placed her bucket down as she held up her empty hands for him to examine. She slowly moved towards him, and he realized that they were fully out of sight of Maria or anyone else for that matter. He cautiously kept a water balloon in his hand as he watched her crouch closer without her bucket and hands raised in surrender.

Her lips met his the moment she was close enough, and he tried to hold back the moan of pleasure as her lips moved eagerly over his. He placed the balloon in his bucket in order to free up his hand to slide into her hair. She moved to straddle his lap and his hands found purchase on her hips. She shifted against him, and he was gone. He lost track of everything else as things started to heat up between them.

And then he was cold……really cold.

He was ice cold and soaking wet and Melinda was sliding from his lap with a wicked grin and swollen lips. She had used his obvious distraction to use his own ammo against him. She’d managed to burst his last two balloons over his own head, and he was trying to find it in his heart to be upset. He was just thoroughly kissed by Melinda May a few feet away from their friends and colleagues, and he was very pleased with her tactics.

She gave him a delighted wink as she stood up from behind the car to announce his defeat. The game was officially over five minutes later when Blake was ambushed. They could try again next year.

He was far more concerned with finding a way to be alone with Melinda.

Fury was a little more concerned with the results.

“Seriously? Were you even trying? You’re supposed to be spies, and you can’t even win at a water war. I’d be embarrassed if I didn’t recruit the women that beat you. I wish I could say I’m surprised.” He ranted as he paced the front of the room. “Seriously….can’t even win at a water war. Get out of here and start planning for next year….this is embarrassing.”

The men filed out of the briefing room with heads lowered and grim expressions. Phil tried to blend in and look just as chastised, but he spotted Melinda across the room and bit the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling until he was safely away from the others.

“That was so messed up, Melinda.” He mentioned once they were alone in the elevator later.

She crossed her arms and smirked, “I don’t know…I thought it was a pretty great kiss.”

“You got me shamed by Fury!” He countered, but she just looked at him with a smile and arched brow.

“Was it worth it?” She asked

He smiled. “So…so worth it!”

“Go home and get changed, Coulson. I’ll be over with dinner in an hour.”

“Yes, ma’am!” He agreed as the elevator doors opened to let Maria on. She nodded to them as she stepped on to join them.

“Some of us are headed out for drinks; you in, Melinda?” Maria asked as they traveled toward the ground floor lobby.

“No thanks, I’ve got plans.” She responded and felt Phil shift next to her.

Maria raised an intrigued brow. “Hot date?” She asked.

“Oh so hot!” Melinda replied and smirked when she saw the tips of Phil’s ears turn bright red.

“Well congrats. I hope you have a good time and great sex.” Maria responded with a smirk of her own.

Melinda tried not to laugh at how quickly the red had spread from Phil’s ears to cover his face. “Oh, I’m sure it will be.” She replied.

Phil was very focused on studying his shoes, and she almost lost her composer at how quickly he moved off the elevator. Maria seemed amused too but chalked it up to a little jealousy and discomfort overhearing them talk about Melinda’s sex life.

She told Maria goodbye and headed towards her car. She smiled when she saw Phil waiting for her with arms crossed and the blush still on his cheeks.

“That was wrong on so many levels!” He complained, but he couldn’t hide the amusement in his voice. “Was that to mess with Maria or me?”

“Both” she responded with a smile. “See you in an hour, Phil.”

He smiled as he watched her leave. The best part of every day was working with his best friend, but now the best part of his night was getting to go home with that same girl.

He hummed all the way home.


	8. Chapter 8

She never made it to dinner. She got called back in before she could even pick up their food and had to call Phil to cancel their plans and ask for a raincheck. An hour later she was on a plane with two other specialists to retrieve an 084 in Budapest. The mission was straight forward and it took longer to travel there than it took to complete the mission. Now, the 084 was tucked safely on the plane, and she had just contacted command to let them know they were headed back. She wondered if Phil had plans. She clocked their ETA back to base at 7 pm. They could still have dinner together if she could get out of her debrief within a reasonable amount of time. Of course, he could already have plans.

She just missed him.

It wasn’t a new sensation. She used to miss him back in the academy when they each went home for breaks, and she missed him last year when he went to Wisconsin for Christmas to see his mom. She just had more to miss when they were apart now. She was turning sappy and sentimental. Her mother would be so disappointed.

She could always just call Phil when she got out of the debrief and at least tell him she was back….say goodnight. She just needed to talk to him. Also…kiss him. She really wanted to kiss him.

  
Two hours later she went through the final shut down of the plane and grabbed her go bag and gear to head toward the debrief. The other specialist had gone on without her, and she took a moment to search for her phone. She just wanted to send a quick message to Phil to let him know she was back. If he was free and wanted to see her….well…she would just be willing to accommodate that.

“I’m here to collect that raincheck if you’re not too tired.”

Her hand froze in its search of her bag and her head popped up in the direction of his voice.

Phil.

A smile spread across her face at the sight of him, and she felt her heart swell at the thought that he had waited around after work for her to get back.

“I’m not too tired.” She replied and stepped into his arms to hug him. “You smell nice.”

“Freshly showered in anticipation of your arrival.” He said with a warm smile as he pulled away and started walking with her toward the main building for her debriefing.

She looked over at him with an arched brow. “You went home and then came back? You could have just waited at home until I was done.”

  
He shrugged sheepishly. “I was just ready to see you and didn’t want to wait. I have some paperwork I can catch up on while you’re in your meeting….or I can just go home and wait for you to call. I don’t want you to feel like I’m rushing you. It’s still kinda early if you want to just call me…”

She smiled at his rambling and decided to cut him off as a show of mercy. “I’ll stop by your office when my meeting is done, and then you can follow me back to my place. I need a shower and a change of clothes. We can just order in if you want.”

“That sounds great!” He beamed and slowed as they approached the hallway that would lead to her debrief. “See you soon.”

She gave him a warm smile and nodded as she turned to go into the meeting. She had plans and needed this debrief to be the fastest one on record.

  
An hour later he was sitting in her living room on the couch waiting for the delivery guy while she showered. He pulled the envelope from the inside of his jacket pocket and pursued the contents again. He wasn’t sure how she would react and was inundated with doubts. He had talked himself out of it a few times already; and now that the time was edging closer to bring it up, he found his stomach knotting and his brain forming exit strategies.

She came out of the bathroom in leggings and an old academy shirt he was pretty sure used to belong to him. She had wet hair and bare feet and the sweetest smile on her face. He loved her more in that moment and decided to just take the chance. She noticed the envelope in his hands and beat him to it.

“Is that paperwork? It looks like paperwork.” She pointed out with her arms crossed over her chest.

“Well…it kind of is…” he started, but she interrupted him with narrowed eyes and a not so pleased expression.

“Why do you have paperwork, Phil?”

He took a moment to decide if this was as good of an idea as he thought before responding, “It’s actually for both of us…..”

That seemed to make her even less pleased and her tone relayed that displeasure as she prompted, “And why do we have paperwork, Phil?”

“I was kinda thinking that maybe we could take some time off….together. Maybe getaway for a long weekend.” He said as he handed her the forms to look at.

She looked at the form in her hand before looking back to him with an arched brow. “You brought leave request forms…because you want us to go away together….”

He deflated and tried to backtrack. “It’s too soon, isn’t it? I’m rushing this. I’m sorry I knew it was too soon, but I…”

“Phil…” she interrupted and then offered him a soft smile before continuing, “I’m just going to grab us some pens so we can fill these out.”

He let out a relieved sigh and nodded, “Umm…yeah…okay.”

“Where do you want to go?” She asked as she handed him a pen and settled on the couch next to him.

“Anywhere you want. I only care that I get to spend time with you. The location doesn’t matter to me.”

“So…my mother’s house?” She asked with a smirk.

His mouth dropped open and he floundered, “You see…when I said it doesn’t matter to me…I meant…anywhere but there. Please…anywhere but there.”

“Big baby.” She teased and rolled her eyes playfully. She grabbed her laptop and pulled her legs up on the couch to get comfortable beside him. “Let’s see what our options are. We could go to Australia….”

“I do love kangaroos.” He said with a smile as he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer. He kissed the top of her head when she rested her cheek against his shoulder and pushed the laptop closer for him to see. “Is there somewhere that you’ve always wanted to go?”

“We travel all the time. It’ll just be nice to travel for vacation and not for a mission. The company will be nice too I suppose.”

“Oh…you suppose?” He smirked and took the laptop from her and placed it on the coffee table.

She took the opportunity to pull his now free arms around her and relax into him. “You’ll do.”

His smile widened as she pressed closer to his side. “You’re awfully snuggly Agent May.”

“Mmm….I missed you.” She murmured into his shoulder and pressed a kiss there.

He brushed the hair out of her face and leaned his head back against the couch with a blissful smile on his face. “I missed you too.”

“So…we turn in our paperwork on Monday….and leave in two weeks?” She mentioned a few minutes later.

He nodded and opened his eyes to look down at her. “That sounds perfect. Now we just have to decide where we want to go.”

“Let’s talk about that tomorrow. I have other plans for us now.” She said with a playful glint in her eyes as she turned and slid into his lap.

He slid his hands up her thighs to rest on her hips as she leaned down to find his lips. They both groaned as the doorbell rang to signal the arrival of their dinner. She placed another quick kiss to his lips before sliding from his lap and helping him up from the couch.

Dinner first and then kissing.

Their trip couldn’t come soon enough.


	9. Chapter 9

They turned in their leave request the next morning and by lunch, Phil was on a plane to investigate a potential 084 with Hill. It was way less enjoyable being the one that had to stay home and wait. He’d been gone for four days and she was over it. Knowing her luck their leave time would kick in while he was still away and she’d be vacationing alone. Also, she really missed him and was just ready for him to be home. She slept in his apartment last night. She had originally gone over to water his plants and toss out a few things in the fridge, but had a fit of sentimentality and ended up staying the night. She was pretty sure she’d end up there again tonight. She just had to finish up a few things and then she could stop by her place to grab some clothes on her way home from work.

She had just started packing up to head home when Agent Collins stopped her.

“Agent May, Agent Coulson is on comms and requested a secure line to bring you up to speed on the mission. He says it’s urgent and needs to be confidential. I’m patching him into conference room 2 on the secure line.”

“Okay, thanks.” She nodded and started making her way to the conference room. Perhaps he needed a specialist brought in and requested her. At least she’d get to see him.

She tapped into the secure line and mentally went through what she would need to replace in her go-bag as she answered, “Coulson?”

“Hi!” He greeted happily. “I miss you!”

She couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face and responded softly, “I miss you too.”

“Did you decide where you want to go on our trip?”

“I have some ideas…what does this have to do with the mission?” She questioned a bit confused at the direction the conversation was taking.

“Nothing. I just wanted to talk to you and this way I can….and it’s secure.”

“You’re using a secure Shield line to talk to me after claiming that it was a confidential update on your mission….because you miss me?” She clarified slowly to make sure they were on the same page.

She could practically hear the smile in his voice as he responded, “Yeah….that pretty much sums it up.”

“Oh, that is such a turn on.” She said with a smirk and imagined the tips of his ears turning pink at her words.

“Yeah?”

“I mean….Phil Coulson the bad boy. Who’d have thought?” She teased.

“Hey….I can hear your sarcasm…but I can break a few rules.”

“Oh yeah, babe, you steal those secure phone lines for personal use. It’s so badass.”

He laughed but then let out a long sigh. “I really miss you, Melinda.”

His tone made her heart ache, and she just wanted to see him. “I miss you too, Phil.”

“So tell me what you’re thinking about locations.” He said to break the melancholy tone their conversation had taken.

She settled into a chair with the phone to her ear and she mentioned ideas. “Well,…a beach somewhere would be nice.”

“Hmm…you in a swimsuit….sold! Let’s go to the beach.”

“We could also do a remote cabin in the mountains.” She suggested as she leaned back into the seat and closed her eyes.

“Hmm…no. Mountains would mean layers of clothes. No…I’m liking the beach idea.”

“I wouldn’t need more layers if I have you to keep me warm,” she suggested.

“Hmm…that is very tempting….but I’ve got the whole helping you put on sunscreen idea in my head, and I’m having a hard time thinking about anything else.” She grinned at the idea and his typical “guy” thoughts.

“Think you’ll be home in time to come with me?” She asked as the smile slipped from her face and her heart sank a little at the thought.

“There’s no way I’m missing it.” He paused “I’m ready to be home with you.”

She gripped the phone a little tighter as her chest tightened a little at the reflection of her own thoughts. “Then get back to work so you can come home.”

“Yes ma’am,” he said with a playful tone. She loved him so much and it got harder and harder not to voice that to him.

“Phil…I…” she started but she bit back her confession and instead settled on, “I can’t wait to see you.”

“I can’t wait to see you either. Goodnight, Melinda.” He said softly and she squeezed her eyes tight at the surge of longing that rushed over her.

“Have a good night, Phil.” She replied and sat still until she heard the line cut out.

She brushed a solitary tear from the corner of her eye and sighed in frustration. She didn’t even bother going home for clothes. She went straight to Phil’s apartment and found “her” Captain America t-shirt in his dresser. She shook her head at how sappy and sentimental she was but smiled as she lifted the shirt to her nose and breathed in his scent. She finished her nightly routine and decided to take an early night. The longing bubbled up again as she turned off the lights and slipped into his bed, but the familiar scent of Phil Coulson soothed her into sleep.

She woke hours later to a sound from the other room. She held her breath and waited calmly as her brain pushed the fog of sleep away in order to determine what she had heard. She smiled happily as she heard the shower running and closed her eyes as she waited. The clock read 3 am as she felt the bed shift behind her. She felt his arm circle her waist and tug her gently against him. His nose brushed her neck and she smirked as he smelled her hair. They were both such saps.

“You’re home.” She whispered into the dark as she pressed back into his chest and moved her arm over his where he held her waist.

“Mmm…hmm…,” he breathed into her shoulder, “And what a welcome home surprise. You come here often?”

She smiled and threaded her fingers with his where they rested on her belly. “I missed you.” She confessed.

“I missed you too.” He replied as he pressed a soft kiss to her shoulder. She laughed softly as he yawned loudly against her skin and closed her eyes in contentment.

“Goodnight, Phil.” She whispered

“Goodnight, Sweetheart.” He whispered back and placed a final kiss to her temple. She felt his breathing even out a few minutes later. She lay there quietly as she reveled in the feel of his steady heartbeat against her back and the way his arm would occasionally tighten around her.

“I love you.” She whispered into the darkness and a few minutes later drifted off to join him in sleep.

He tried to keep his heart from racing and waking her. He was suddenly wide awake. She loved him. He breathed her in as his brain started forming ideas of how to tell her he felt the same.

Eventually, he drifted off with a full heart and a plan. One thought kept ringing in his head.

She loved him.


	10. Chapter 10

She loved him. He couldn’t get over it. She said it three days ago, and he still got a rush every time he remembered. He was pretty sure he would never be able to get over the idea that Melinda May loved him, and that was fine because he was insanely happy. She hadn’t said it since then and she had only said it that night because she thought he was asleep, but she said it and that’s all that mattered to him. His smile grew bigger as he stood there thinking about how he wanted to tell her he felt the same. 

He pulled out his phone and dialed the familiar numbers and waited. She answered on the second ring. 

  
“Hello?”

“What are you wearing?”

“Seriously, Phil?” She said and he could practically hear her eyes rolling through the phone but there was amusement in her tone, and he grinned. 

“Ughh…fine, spoilsport, I was checking to see if you wanted something to eat or just the tea? They’ve got some pretty good looking biscuits and sandwiches here.”

“Sure, thanks. Just surprise me. I grabbed you some candy from the little store across from our gate.”

“Oh….you get me! Thanks. Hold down the fort and I’ll be right there with tea and breakfast.”

“By ‘hold down the fort’ do you mean to make sure that no one steals the Captain America comic from your carryon?”

“Yes. That is absolutely 100% what I meant. That would ruin our trip. We’d basically just have to go home…or to a comic book collector nearby for a replacement. Pshh…like that could really be replaced,” he finished with a shake of his head as the line began to move. 

She sighed, “Sadly, Phil, I know you’re not joking. Grab the food and hurry back to keep me company.”

“Yes, Ma’am” he agreed and tucked his phone back into his pocket as he moved forward to order. 

When he made it to their gate a few minutes later there was a rather attractive man talking to her. He was definitely checking her out. ‘Not today, Sir,….not today,’ he thought as he moved over to her and smiled at the way her face lit up when she saw him. 

“And here’s my boyfriend with our breakfast. Thank you so much for umm…offering to help me watch my stuff …. but as you can see he’s back and we’ve got it from here.” She explained as she took the tea and sandwich from his outstretched hand.

He smiled at the disappointed look that crossed the man’s face. He didn’t even mind the look of confusion that came next as he clearly wondered how a dorky guy like him had that hot of a girlfriend. He wondered the same thing all the time, but it didn’t matter; she loved him. 

“I can’t leave you alone for a minute!” He sighed.

She rolled her eyes and unwrapped her breakfast sandwich. “Are you talking to me or your comic book?”

“My comic! That guy had a drink in his hand. What if he would have tripped and spilled it all over my comic?! We’ve discussed what that would do this trip. You can handle yourself. You obviously weren’t interested in that guy.” He said as he settled into the seat next to her and placed his coffee between his knees to free his hands up for his own sandwich. 

She smirked and raised a brow as she clarified, “I wasn’t?”

He shook his head as he swallowed. “Nope. You ‘like’ like me.”

“I ‘like like’ you?” She asked. 

He shrugged. “Ask Maria….it’s some weird thing that basically means I’m your favorite and you wouldn’t trade me for Mr. luggage guardian,” he responded with a shake of his head and took another bite of his sandwich. 

“Hmm…well then…I guess I ‘like’ like you.” She said and leaned over to press a kiss to his cheek which made him smile and get that playful glint in his eyes. 

He took a sip of his coffee before trying to read the departure board across from them. “How much longer until we board?”

“About 45 minutes,” she said as she finished the last of her sandwich and reached into her bag to retrieve the book she had brought with her. 

He nodded and studied her carefully a moment before asking, “So….we’re going away together. You sure you’re okay with this?”

She reached over to take his hand before replying, “Yeah, Phil, I’m good.”

“Good,” he said with a smile. He laced their fingers before turning in his seat to face her fully. He looked deeply into her eyes before broaching the subject that had been on his mind, “So…..Melinda….I umm…I actually have something important I want to talk to you about before we board.”

“Okay….go ahead.” She said and turned to give him her full attention. 

“I just need to ask….” He started and then paused for a beat before continuing. “What candy did you get me?”

She just rolled her eyes and passed him the bag of sweets she had picked up for him.

He let go of her hand to examine his prize, and his face lit up when he saw what was in the bag. “Twizzlers AND gummy bears?! You’re the best!” 

“I’m literally traveling with a man child.” She groaned.

“Huh…says the woman who bought me the candy….., Enabler.” He mumbled playfully while he tucked the candy into his carryon giving his precious comic book a quick check. 

She took a long sip of her tea and settled back in her seat with her book to read while they waited. “I’m just trying to keep you busy on the plane so you don’t kick the seat in front of you and get us in trouble.”

“Just for that…” he scoffed, “I hope that kid sits behind you.”

Her eyes narrowed and he backpedaled. “Nope, …that’s umm..that would be terrible. I hope you have an empty seat behind you, and also you can have both armrest….you deserve it. You're so pretty.”

She rolled her eyes and went back to reading her book, but he saw the slight smirk and brightness in her eyes. She was so in love with him. 

They boarded and settled into their seats. He was a ball of energy and really hadn’t eaten much of the candy. He was just going on a trip with his dream girl for a whole week and he was positive he had never been this excited about a vacation before. There was a permanent grin on his face since he had picked her up this morning to head to the airport, and it probably wouldn’t go away the entire week. He looked next to him to see a similar smile on her face. He took her hand and laced their fingers before bringing it to his lips to kiss the back of it. She used her free hand to lift the armrest between them out of the way before sliding closer and resting her head on his shoulder with a contented sigh. He was so in love with her too.

The rental car line was fortunately short and she was finishing up by the time Phil joined her at the counter with their luggage. He looked happy, and she smiled knowing that she had something to do with that. She had been nervous about this trip. This was a big step for them, going away together, and she didn’t exactly have a great track record for relationships. She had almost talked herself into canceling or at least postponing the trip, but all she had to do was think about a whole week away from work with just Phil and she couldn’t do it. It was just much too good to pass up. She reached up and kissed his lips again just because she could. Lucky her that he never seemed to mind. 

They had to drive a little way to get to their home away from home for the week, but the scenery was beautiful and the company was even better. He held her hand while he drove and lately it seemed like he couldn’t be around her without putting a hand on her back, holding her hand, kissing her, or wrapping his arms around her and holding her close. She had never been one for touching or cuddling and she had never known Phil to be all that tactile either, but she was having the same problem. She couldn’t seem to stop touching him either. She was most surprised to find that it didn’t bother her in the slightest. Every little touch made her heart feel full and she reveled in it. This was what being in love felt like. The sensation of being whole for the first time.

She looked over to see him grinning and casting glances her way.

“What is it?” She asked, and he shook his head as the grin grew wider. 

“I just love you.” He said and turned his eyes back to the road. 

Her heart exploded and she felt the air rush out of her lungs.

He loved her. 

“I’m sorry,” he said with a shake of his head, “I had planned to make this grand romantic gesture when I told you; but gosh, Melinda, you just look so beautiful and you’re smiling and happy…and I just love you.”

A big smile spread across her face. Grand romantic gesture couldn't hold a candle to a spontaneous confession because he loved her so much and couldn't hold it in anymore. She was able to take enough air back into her lungs to respond, “I love you too, Phil.”

“Yeah?” He questioned, “I’m pretty nerdy.”

“I know” she stated matter of factly, and he laughed and shook his head. 

“As soon as we get there I have plans to kiss you.” He informed her with a smile and look of determination on his face.

She arched her brow and pretended to think it over, “and what if I’m opposed to that plan?”

He just shrugged and took his eyes from the road for a moment to look at her. His smile was so wide and his eyes danced playfully. “You’re not.”

“You seem pretty sure of that, Coulson.” She teased and pushed her tongue against the inside of her cheek to try to hold back her smile. 

He squeezed her hand and turned his eyes back to the road with a confident smirk. “I am….because you love me too.”

“Sap” she murmured with a playful roll of her eyes as she turned to look out the window once more but the smile escaped and he chuckled beside her. She really liked being in love. 

He kept his promise. As soon as they arrived, he moved to her side of the car to open the door and offered a hand to help her out. As soon as she was on her feet he pulled her into his arms and kissed her passionately. Her hands threaded into his hair as he teased her bottom lip with his tongue before pulling it between his own, and she sighed happily. He pulled away to catch his breath and rested his forehead against hers. “I love you,” he breathed and the smile of utter happiness and adoration that spread across her face made his heart feel like it was about to burst out of his chest. 

She reached up to place a soft slow kiss on his lips before pulling away and saying, “I love you too, Phil.” 

He kept his arms around her waist as he looked around. “Welcome to Tahiti, Melinda,” he said with a smile and another kiss to her lips. 

She smiled happily up at him as the fingers of her left hand moved to brush the hair at his temple, “I hear it’s a magical place” she suggested and her eyes held that playful spark that made his heart race. 

“It’s certainly off to a great start.” He agreed and placed one last kiss to her lips as he moved away to get their luggage from the back of the jeep. He smiled thinking about people asking about his trip when he gets back. “It can be our own private joke when we get back and people ask us about Tahiti. We’ll just tell them it’s a magical place and leave it at that.”

She laughed as she grabbed their carryon bags and walked towards him. “I think you just enjoy messing with Maria.”

“It’s true.” He agreed with a grin and started walking toward the bungalow he had rented them for the week. He had made sure to get them something that afforded privacy but still allowed them access to restaurants and activities if they wanted to get out and explore. 

She was waiting on the terrace when he put their suitcases inside and the look of relaxation and bliss on her face was everything to him. 

This was going to be the best vacation ever. 


	11. Chapter 11

There was a cool afternoon breeze wafting across the veranda when he stepped out to join her. She radiated happiness and he was sure he must be grinning like an idiot as he slid his arms around her waist. 

“So…..just you and me for a whole week. Whatever shall we do to pass the time?” She asked as her hands stole up his chest and shoulders to rest at the back of his neck.

He smiled as he pulled her closer. “Well….I did have one thing in mind…”

“You want me to read your comic book to you don’t you?” she asked with an arched brow. 

His bottom lip poked out like a sad puppy, “Could you please? I just think it would be so relaxing…the perfect vacation….my head in your lap while you read about the grand adventures of Captain America. What could be better than that?”

“Sex, Phil.” She stated bluntly.

He gasped playfully, “Ohh? Did you have that in mind? Is that why you brought me here, Melinda? To seduce me?”

“You know…on second thought, I bet I could go into town and find me a cabana boy…” she said as she started to move off the veranda, but he caught her wrist and gently pulled her back into his arms. 

“No thanks. Consider me seduced.” He murmured against her lips as he kissed her. 

She was smiling happily when he pulled away. “Want to go check out the beach for a little while?” She suggested and while he was content to stand on the porch making out with her all afternoon the prospect of helping his bikini-clad goddess apply sunscreen held it’s own appeal. 

“Yeah…huh,” he nodded eagerly and kissed her again before they separated to go change. 

She came out dressed in a knee-length cover-up that hid her suit, and she smirked when she saw him pouting. “You can help me take it off when we get down to the beach,” she assured him and rolled her eyes playfully when he grinned. 

She tugged on his t-shirt to bring him closer and she kissed him slowly. “Hi,” she said with a smile as she pulled away. 

“Hi,” he replied and kissed her again. “I love you.” 

“I know,” She replied and her smile grew. “I love you too.”

He kissed her again. “I know.”

She shook her head but the smile lingered as she said, “Ughh…we’re getting all sappy.”  
He nodded and took her hand to lead her out the door, “Yeah….quick…let's go rinse it off in some saltwater.”

She laughed and she grabbed her bag with their towels and sunscreen as she followed him out. In all honesty, she didn’t mind the sappy affection. She’d never had this before. In previous relationships, she’d always had her guard up. Dating civilians meant she had secrets and had to always watch what she said and how much of herself she revealed. More importantly, she’d never felt anything for them like she felt for Phil; not even close. Even before they decided to explore this side of their relationship she’d had this constant desire to spend time with him. He made her laugh and smile and the butterflies in her stomach when he smiled at her were just an added bonus. She wondered what they’d be doing now if she hadn’t of volunteered for that op in Russia, and her heart tightened painfully at the thought of not having this with him. She looked up to find him watching her as they walked. He smiled brightly and he squeezed her hand. 

“What is it?” She asked after a beat. 

He shrugged and looked ahead to the ocean as he replied, “Just thinking about how lucky I am. Madly in love with my best friend who loves me back, and we're in Tahiti together for the week.”

She smiled and squeezed his hand as a lump formed in her throat at his words. He really was the greatest man in the world and she knew she was the lucky one to have him love her back.

She looked back up to see the playful glint in his eyes as he added, “And you’re soooo hot!”

She shoved his arm with a roll of her eyes, but a laugh slipped out and his smile grew. 

He held a hand to her elbow to steady her as she reached down to slip out of her shoes. He did the same and they dropped them beside her bag in the sand and walked to the edge of the water. The water was warm where it lapped at their feet, and they both took a moment to inhale the salty air and look out over the clear blue water. 

“We should come back here in a few years….make it a little tradition,” she suggested, and he glanced over at her with a big smile. 

“A few years? You plan to keep me around that long?” He asked playfully, and she turned to wrap her arms around his neck. 

Her fingers threaded through the hair at the back of his neck as she asked, “Did you have somewhere else you planned to be?”

He stole a kiss and shook his head as he pulled away. “Nowhere else I’d rather be than with you.”

“Come on,” she said as she led them back up the beach to the chairs their accommodations provided. “I have a book to read, and I packed your snacks.”

“And sunscreen,” he added, “You need me to apply your sunscreen”

“Yes, Phil, you can help put on my sunscreen.” She replied and the sight of him biting his bottom lip and pumping his fist in triumph made her laugh and shake her head. 

She really loved that dork. 

She was certain it was the longest sunscreen application process in history, but she had Phil’s hands massaging her back and legs so there were no complaints from her. She stole glances at him from behind her book and eventually a grin broke out across his face from his seat next to hers. 

“I know,” he said without looking up from his own book, “I’m quite the catch. You’re a very lucky lady, Melinda May.”

She shook her head and pressed her tongue to the inside of her cheek with a soft chuckle. “So confident.”

“How can I not be? You’re the most incredible woman ever and I’m officially the envy of every man who has ever laid eyes on you. Being with you is by far my greatest accomplishment. I put it in my family newsletter and had Fury update it on my resume,” he stated and his dimples showing made her heart race. 

“Did you tell anyone we were going away together?” She asked and he shrugged. 

“We both took off work the exact same time for the exact same amount of time. I figured a bunch of spies can put two and two together, but I can make a formal announcement if you like. Unless you’re ashamed to be with me and don’t want anyone to know,” he teased. 

She shook her head and went back to her book as she replied, “Oh no, you’re quite the catch and I’m a very lucky lady; announce away, Phil.” 

He studied her for a moment more before he went back to his own book but the lovesick smile stayed on his face while he read. 

He’d just wait and see how long it took Maria to puzzle it out. 

He stole one more glance as the woman beside him, and the happy look on her face made his smile grow impossibly larger. 

Loving her was grand. 


	12. Chapter 12

They decided to head out for dinner and explore the area a bit. He put on a pair of tailored slacks and a light blue button-up shirt he knew she liked and looked up places to eat while she finished getting ready. He had just placed his phone back in his pocket and leaned back into the chair when she stepped out of the bedroom. His hands gripped his knees as he let out a low whistle. 

She was gorgeous. 

Her hair curled around her shoulders where the thin straps of her sundress rested. The dress was soft and white with flowers he’d be hard-pressed to identify patterned across the fabric. The top dipped tastefully at her chest to show glowing skin that looked so very kissable, and the slit that came up the side gave him a very enticing view of her legs. She was a goddess, and she loved him.

His heart raced just thinking about it. 

“Did I clean up okay?” She asked playfully, and he stood as she walked towards him. 

He smiled and took her hands before affirming, “You could wear sweats and an old t-shirt and still be the most stunning woman in any room, but this…hmm…you’re breathtaking.”

She blushed but her eyes danced playfully as she asked, “Would that old t-shirt you mentioned happen to be your Captain America shirt you like for me to borrow?”

“No,…it can be any Captain America shirt. It doesn’t have to just be that one.” He teased as his hands slid to her waist to tug her closer. 

Her arms wrapped around his neck as he leaned down to steal a kiss from her lips. The gentle pressure of her hand on the back of his neck brought his lips back to hers for a more lingering kiss, and he sighed in pleasure. 

“Maybe we can just skip dinner and stay here,” he suggested as he placed light kisses across her jaw. 

She smiled as she pushed against his chest. “Nuh-uh, you’ve got to feed me first, Coulson.”

“Ugh…so bossy,” he complained with a smirk as he placed one last kiss to her lips and pulled away. 

“Well, …you wouldn’t want me distracted because I’m hungry. Plus…,” she paused to place a trail of kisses up his neck, “we have all night.”

“Fast food then?” He teased, and she laughed as she took his hand and led him to the door. “Fine…fine,” he grumbled and pulled the door closed behind them. 

They found a small place to eat where they could sit outside and have a view of the beach. Her taste was always a bit more daring than his so she tried something local that he couldn’t pronounce and couldn’t identify once they brought out her plate. His burger was easily identifiable and tasted great. He didn’t mind her teasing at all and respectfully declined her offer to let him taste her weird looking pasta/salad/mystery ingredient meal that she had ordered. He’d wait till later in the week to venture out in the culinary world. 

They took a walk along the beach after they ate, and he had never been so relaxed and happy. He smiled every time she stopped to pick up a shell in the fading light and his heart felt so very full when she explained that they were mementos from their trip. He really liked this sappy sentimental side of her, but he was definitely not stupid enough to point out to her that she was being sappy and sentimental. He had way too much to live for these days. 

She was quiet on the drive back and he looked over to see that her face was flush.

“You okay, Melinda?” He asked as he glanced back and forth between her and the road in concern. 

She hummed in response at first but a beat later added, “I’m just feeling a little too warm.”

  
He adjusted the air and watched as she closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the seat. 

He opened the door for her when they made it back and offered a hand to help her from the car.  
She was a little shaky when she stood up and he pressed the back of his hand to her cheek and found her skin to be much too warm. 

“Let’s just get you inside,” he suggested and led her into the bungalow. 

She barely made it to the bathroom before she was sick. He rubbed her back soothingly as she emptied the contents of her stomach, and he stood to wet a cool rag to wipe her face with. She leaned back against the wall and took the glass of water he offered. 

“I’m so sorry, Phil,” she apologized and closed her eyes as a wave of nausea hit her. 

He slid down the wall to sit next to her on the floor and brushed a piece of hair from her brow. “Hey, no need to apologize. It’s not like you can help being sick. I’m thinking you may have food poisoning.”

“This isn’t exactly what we had planned for the evening” she lamented, and he took her hand and placed a kiss to the back of it. 

“No….but there’s no rush. Let me just take care of you tonight, okay?” He offered, and she squeezed his hand. 

She turned her head and opened her eyes to look at him. Her face was pale and her hair was clinging to her sweaty brow but the whispered “I love you” made his heart race just as much as it did when she’d said it earlier all dressed up. 

She was sick several more times throughout the night and he managed to help her into shorts and t-shirt before she fell asleep with her head against his shoulder where he had taken up residence on the bathroom floor with her. 

He woke up in the early hours of the morning and managed to get up and carry her carefully to bed. She only stirred a little when he laid her down, and he was relieved to see that she was no longer pale and sweaty, and her skin was much cooler to the touch. He placed a wastebasket by the bed next to her just in case before settling into bed next to her. 

“I’m sorry I ruined our night, Phil,” she whispered as he slid beneath the covers. 

“This was one night out of a lifetime of nights I plan to spend with you, Melinda,” he replied, “I’m sorry you were sick, but any night spent with you couldn’t possibly be ruined.”

She turned on her side to face him and he knew she was still not feeling great when he saw the sheen of moisture in her eyes. “You’re a good man, Phil, I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve you.”

He smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as he said, “Well if you’re keeping track for future reference….I think I proved I can handle the whole ‘in sickness or in health’ part.”

She reached up to hold his hand to her cheek, and she turned her head to place a soft kiss to his wrist as she agreed, “Mmm…hmm….I’ll keep that in mind.”

He leaned in to place a lingering kiss to her forehead and was glad to see that her skin felt much cooler than before. 

She turned to press her back against his chest and pulled his arm tight around her waist. 

She was asleep only minutes later. 


	13. Chapter 13

She woke to the soft sounds of Phil puttering around in the kitchen. She could tell he was trying to be quiet but the soft clink of silver on china occasionally came through. Also, he was humming. She could barely make out the sound and not enough to recognize the song, but she knew he was humming. He sounded happy. 

She smiled and burrowed down into the covers once more. She had been sure that she would feel embarrassed once she woke up and felt well enough for it to sink in that she had spent the evening throwing up in front of him, but the feeling never came. He had been so sweet and caring with her last night, and she had never been so well taken care of. Rather than feeling uncomfortable at how vulnerable she had been in front of him, she felt a rush of affection as she remembered his comment about doing great with the ‘in sickness or in health’ part of the vows. 

Vows. Marriage vows. 

She knew that he had made the comment to lighten the mood and make her smile, but just the thought that he had even considered marrying her made happiness bubble up until it forced a wide smile across her face. She never imagined that she would ever settle down and get married. She had always been so focused on becoming a Shield agent and training to be the best. She barely put much thought and effort into dating or relationships so marriage was the last thing on her mind. Now though, as she heard his soft humming from the other room and caught his scent in the covers she was wrapped in, she found she had never really wanted anything more. 

He walked carefully into the room with a covered tray, and her heart skipped at the smile that lit up his face when he realized she was awake. 

“Hi!” He said and walked to the bed with the tray. 

She sat up against the headboard and smiled when he pressed a kiss to her forehead before placing the tray across her lap. 

“Hi,” she whispered back. “You didn’t have to do this.”

“Well, I wasn’t sure what you’d feel up to eating, but I figured toast and eggs would be safe. Think you can hold that down?”

She nodded and waited for him to settle in beside her with his own plate. 

They ate in companionable silence and he took the tray of empty dishes back to the kitchen when they were done. He came back and slid beneath the covers to sit next to her and wrapped his arm around her while he waited for her to get comfortable tucked against his side. 

“Tell me something that makes you happy.” She prompted after a few minutes. 

He pressed a kiss to the crown of her head and moved his fingers slowly up and down her arm, “You mean besides this?” He asked.

“Besides this,” she pressed with a smile.

He thought quietly for a moment before replying, “It makes me happy to go on missions with you, see you at work, see you after work, talk to you, spend time with you, kiss you….basically anything involving you makes me pretty happy.”

“You’re such a sap,” she said but the faint blush and smile that graced her face showed how much his words affected her. 

He shrugged and admitted, “You just make me happy, Mel, you’re all it takes. Just you.”

“Think you’ll always think that? We’re bound to argue from time to time….the newness of all this will wear off…you might find me hard to live with eventually.” She voiced and though her tone made her appear to be nonchalant, he knew her well enough to hear the slightest trace of insecurity behind her words. 

He slid his arm from around her shoulder and reached down to take her hands in his. “Melinda, I’m not infatuated with you…I’m in love with you. I know you. You’re quiet and moody and sometimes drive me crazy…”

“Hey!” She interrupted with narrowed eyes. 

He just smiled and reached up to brush his fingers over her temple and tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. “…but you’re my best friend,” he continued, “there’s no one I’d rather have by my side in love or war than you. I’m not just here for the good days with you, Melinda. I’m here for the bad ones, and the boring ones, and all the ones in between. We’ll always have each other’s backs…and knowing that makes me happy.”

“It makes me happy too, Phil,” she said as she leaned in to press a soft slow kiss to his lips. She wanted this to last. 

Eventually, they got up and spent the rest of the day on the beach. They swam and read and took naps in the cool breeze and just soaked in the ability to truly relax without worrying about being called in for a mission or being followed or shot at. As much as they loved their jobs and going out on missions, they've learned through the years how to appreciate any chance at normal that they could get. 

They decided to play it safe and cook dinner at the bungalow and then just go out for drinks and a walk on the beach. They found a place with an outdoor bar and patio where they could share dessert, sip drinks, and enjoy the sun setting over the water. It was as romantic as it was relaxing, and they both hoped that the night ended much more favorably than the previous one. 

He placed their order at the bar and then spent the wait watching her watch the water. She was so beautiful and he just couldn’t get over the fact that she was here with him. She loved him. It made his heart race every time he thought about it. 

He was distracted from his thoughts by a woman sliding into the stool next to the one he was leaning against. 

“Hi, can I get you a drink?” She asked and her lips curled into a sultry smile. 

“No thanks,” he replied, “I already ordered.”

She shifted to cross one long tan leg over the other and the slit in her dress left a lot of well-toned leg exposed. 

She smiled and pulled her bottom lip between her white teeth before offering, “That’s okay, maybe I can get the next one.”

“Umm…Actually, I’m here with someone” he said politely as he waited for the bartender to finish Melinda’s drink. 

“Doesn’t mean you have to leave with her,” she replied suggestively as she placed a hand on his bicep and made a show of looking him over.

He pulled his arm away with a smile and then pointed to Melinda sitting at their table and looking out at the ocean.

“Yeah…Okay….you see that woman over there in the soft orange dress?” He asked and waited until he was sure she got a good look before continuing, “That’s not the kind of woman you ever walk away from. She’s smart, funny, and could kick the ass of everyone here without setting her drink down. She’s incredible and despite some questionable decisions early in my career and my admitted deficiencies in Russian, I’m not an idiot. I’m pretty much prepared to spend every day for the rest of my life begging her not to walk away from me! So…ummm….you seem nice….SUPER friendly, but…I’m going to go back to my table and tell my girlfriend she’s pretty. Good luck though….with the rest of your night and…things.”

  
He walked back to their table and placed a kiss to her cheek before he sat down.

“What was that for?” She asked with a smile.

He shrugged and took a sip of his drink before replying, “I’m just in love with you.”

A smile spread across her face as her eyes narrowed. “That girl at the bar hit on you?”

“Little bit.”

“And you told her I’m your girlfriend.”

“Sure did.”

She nodded and her smile grew as she lifted her glass to her lips. “You are so getting lucky when we get back.”

“Check please!” He called out, and his heart filled at the sound of her laughter. 

He had no idea it would be like this. He’d been attracted to her for years and knew deep down that it was more than that, but nothing quite prepared him for what it would be like to be in love with her. He had spent his life focused solely on becoming a SHIELD agent. It was all that he wanted for so long that he couldn’t imagine anything meaning more to him than the badge he carried around in his pocket and the ideals that it stood for. Sitting here with her now, hearing her sweet laugh, and seeing the happiness radiating from her eyes, he knew beyond all doubt that the center of his universe had shifted. She would merely have to ask, and he would give all else up for a life with her. 

She meant everything to him. 

The feel of her hand covering his startled him out of his reverie before she even asked, “You okay, Phil?”

“Never better,” he said as the grin spread across his face, “let’s go add to your shell collection.”

He placed enough money to cover their dessert and tip the waiter in the receipt book on the table and stood. He offered his hand to her with a smile and helped her to her feet. 

They took their time walking on the beach, and she smirked but made no comment when he slipped a few shells of his own into his pocket. She wasn’t the only one who wanted mementos of their trip. 

After all…it’s a magical place. 


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry...had to change the rating to avoid scandalizing anyone. I'll try to put a warning at the beginning of any chapter of a more mature nature for anyone who prefers a 'G' rating and wants to keep up with the story. That way you can skip that chapter if you prefer. Thanks to all those who keep following along with this extra fluffy work!

They walked into the bungalow, and suddenly he felt nervous. His brain registered that something he’d fantasized about far more times then he should ever admit was about to become reality. His palms felt wet and his mouth felt dry. She seemed to sense his nervousness and gave him a soft smile. 

“There’s no rush, Phil. If you don’t want to…”

“I do,” he assured her quickly and then rubbed a hand across the back of his neck as he admitted, “I’ve just thought about this….a lot.”

“Me too,” she replied with a smile and he looked up with a satisfied grin.

“Oh yeah?” He asked.

She rolled her eyes playfully at his sudden confidence boost but continued anyway. “You’re pretty hot, Phil. You’re smart and charming…”

“And funny?” He added with an arched brow as he waited for her to agree. 

“Ehh….sometimes,” she indulged with a smirk and slid her arms up his chest to cross behind his neck. 

His own smile grew as he coaxed, “ Oh come on…you laugh at my jokes.”

“I laugh at you…there’s a difference.”

He smirked and his arms slid around her waist to draw her closer. She reached up to press her lips to his, and he sighed in pleasure. She drew away and her eyes looked up through lowered lashes to look at him in a way that made his heart pound in his chest. His hands dropped to his side as she slowly backed away. Her eyes held his captive as she reached up to find the orange strings at her neck.

All his nerves left when her dress flowed to the floor. 

She was nervous too but the look of desire that filled his eyes as his eyes traveled from the pooled dress on the floor slowly up her figure to meet her eyes again caused a rush of heat to spread through her. She moved toward him and his fingertips brushed across her cheek tenderly before he cupped her jaw and brought her lips to his. Her hands traveled up his chest to find his tie and she worked it free and tossed it to the side before working open the buttons of his dress shirt. 

His lips were trailing kisses down her neck by the time she had reached the last button and tugged it free from his slacks before tossing it aside. He pulled his lips away and waited until she was looking back at him before he asked, “You sure?”

Her heart swelled at the tenderness in his voice and she knew that any hesitation from her and he would willingly give them a chance to cool down and wait until she was ready to take this next step. Just when she thought she couldn’t possibly love him more, he does something so very ‘Phil’ and she melts into him a little more. 

“I’m very sure,” she stated and the gentlest pressure of her hand on the back of his neck had his lips finding hers again. 

It was the last coherent thing spoken for a while. 

  
She woke to a weight across her middle and smiled happily as she leaned back into his chest. The feel of skin against skin caused her eyes to flutter closed as she remembered the feel of skilled hands and lips moving across her skin. The feel of those lips pressing to her bare shoulder brought her from her memories to the present and she smiled thinking of how great it would be to wake up like this every morning. 

“There should be a job where we get paid to just spend all day in bed,” He muttered against her shoulder and she hummed in agreement.

She laced her fingers through his where they rested against her stomach. “We could just stay here and never go back.”

“Deal,” he agreed eagerly and she laughed softly. 

They were content to lay there a while longer until the growling stomachs had them up and in the kitchen preparing coffee and tea. She made toast and filled glasses with juice while he fixed eggs and bacon, and she had just finished setting the table when he placed down their filled plates with a kiss to her cheek. 

She felt his eyes on her as she ate and he blushed when he realized he’d been caught. 

“Are we supposed to talk about this?” He asked hesitantly and she leaned back in her seat to look at him. 

“As far as…?” She asked and he pushed the remaining food around on his plate nervously. 

He looked up at her thoughtfully as he continued, “Us…where you see this going….I mean…do you see this becoming a permanent thing? Do you even want something permanent? Should we have talked about this before last night? Am I making this weird? I’m making this weird aren’t I? Gosh…I’m totally making this weird. Do you want more juice?”

“Phil,” she interrupted and he looked at her with a sigh.

“You’re just important to me, Melinda. What we have together is important to me, and I want you to be happy,” he shrugged, and she could see him swallow hard when she stood. 

She slid into his lap and placed her hands on either side of his face to bring his attention to her. “I love you, Phil,” she said softly and smiled as she continued, “I’m all in….whatever you want I’ll give. We can take our time, but eventually, I’d like permanent….if that’s okay with you.”

The smile that spread across his face made her breath catch. 

“That’s very, very okay with me.” He replied and the look of love and happiness in his eyes gave her butterflies. 

She traced her fingers affectionately through the short hair at his temple, “Anything else you’d like to discuss, dear?” She asked playfully. 

His hands moved to slide under her thighs to hold her securely as he stood. She smiled happily and trailed kisses up his neck as he led them back to bed. 

“No more talking,” he suggested and the feel of his lips across her skin was the only persuading she needed. 


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter. Thank you for your patience and for continuing to stick with this story!

They sat in the lounge chair on the porch of their bungalow enjoying the final moments of vacation before they had to head to the airport and catch their flight home. She sat between his legs and leaned back into his chest, soaking in the feel of his arms wrapped around her. It was going to be tough to leave this paradise behind, but the promise of the future together was a great motivator to get on that plane headed home. 

“You ready to head back?” He asked with a kiss to her temple. 

She sighed, “Not really, I’ve gotten kinda used to being with you all the time. I’m going to miss this when we get home.”

“Me too,” he sighed and placed another kiss to her cheek “You know…”

“Yes,” she answered.

“You don’t even know what I was about to say,” he argued 

She gave a satisfied grin as she replied, “Yes I do. You were going to suggest we move in together.”

“No…” he stated, “I was going to see if you wanted to carpool to work in the mornings, but, I mean...if you really want to live with me…” 

She gave a playful elbow shot to his side as she corrected him, “No, you were not! You want to move in with me.”

“Maybe…” he shrugged, “But now we’ll never know because you interrupted me.”

“Ughh..fine. Do you want to move in together?” She asked and tried to appear nonchalant as she waited for his response. 

“Yeah…I really do” he replied, “but do you think it’s too soon?”

“No, but there’s no rush. Why don’t we just think about it on the way home and if it feels right, we can talk about it sometime soon,” She suggested.

He already knew what his answer would be, but agreed with her plan anyway. “I think that’s a solid plan. We should probably make our way to the airport now,” he said and gave her a moment to stand before standing as well and following her inside to get the rest of their things. 

The flight back was uneventful and he drove her back to her apartment and carried her luggage upstairs. After a few lingering kisses, he headed for home with a promise to pick her up for breakfast in the morning. 

  
He walked into his apartment and went about unpacking and going through his nighttime routine. The apartment felt so vast and empty, and he missed her. He tried to distract himself with a little tv, but then he just thought of going to bed without her and felt that emptiness again. He walked back into his room with a sigh. 

She was struggling to fall asleep. The bed felt even emptier than her apartment had all night, and while she was loathed to admit that she’d become dependent on someone else, she would gladly confess if it would mean having Phil to come home to every day. She eventually gave up on sleep and moved to the living room to try to read herself to sleep. 

She made it two whole pages before she was interrupted by a knock on the door. Glancing at the clock she knew there was only one person who would stop by so late. She smiled as she moved to open the door. 

“Hi,” he greeted with a nervous smile “Is it okay if I’ve already made up my mind and don’t really need time to think about it?”

It was then that she looked down to see a suitcase at his side and her smile grew.

“Come on in, Roomie. I was about to head to bed if you want to join me.”

The “yes, please” that followed had her grinning all the way to her room. 

She moved to the dresser and opened a few drawers to show them empty and ready for his things.

“You already made space for me?” He asked in pleasant surprise.

She blushed and gestured for him to unpack. “I was just hopeful,” she explained. 

He pulled her into his arms and pressed a lingering kiss to her lips. “Thank you” he whispered between kisses.

“Mmm…you’re welcome. Let’s unpack in the morning. I’m ready to go to bed now.” And with that, she pulled him down on the bed and sighed as his lips took over and caressed her skin. 

He wouldn’t need clothes tonight anyway.

  
They took their time getting up the next morning and decided to use their last day before heading back to work to just be lazy and get Phil’s things settled in. 

They were happily curled up in bed when they heard the knocking on her door. 

“It’s the deli boy with the breakfast we ordered,” she said and then moved to get up.

He tugged on her wrist to stop her and placed a long slow kiss on her lips before moving to get up. “I’ve got this. You just stay right here.”

She smiled as she settled back into the pillows. She could really get used to this. 

“Melinda…” she heard him call from the other room followed quickly by a rather squeaked out, “Agent May” 

She climbed from the bed and threw Phil’s t-shirt on to cover her as she moved to the living room to see what had Phil so flustered. 

“Phil, what’s the matter? Is it the food….” She trailed off when she realized what had Phil so unhinged. 

“Mom?” She managed to say. “What are you doing here?”

“The real question, Qiaolian, is what is he doing here, and is that his shirt you are wearing?” she questioned with furrowed brows. 

‘Well so much for a relaxing morning,’ Melinda thought to herself. “Mom, we weren’t expecting you,” she managed to say aloud.

“Clearly or you wouldn’t have been fornicating all morning, and we could be sitting down to tea right now,” she replied. 

“Well, this is awkward…” Phil muttered to himself and crossed his arms over his bare chest as he waited for the floor to swallow him up in a grand display of mercy. 

“Perhaps if you would have called ahead, mother, we could have gotten all of our fornicating out of the way at an earlier hour and had plenty of time to prepare tea for your arrival.” Melinda shot back.

“Can we maybe stop saying ‘fornicating’?” Phil requested.

“Fine,” she countered with a raised brow, “shall we discuss the sex you are having with my daughter then?”

“Yeah….I’m going to get dressed now and pretend that I’m not living out my worst nightmare and then how about I make us that tea? Okay, great plan, Phil,” He finished with a nod and refused to make eye contact as he made his way toward the bedroom and happily closed the door. 

“I love him, mom,” she spoke softly as soon as they were alone. 

“I know, Qiaolian,” she agreed. “It’s about time the two of you got your act together.” 

Melinda rolled her eyes and gestured for her mother to move to the living room. “Then was the fornication talk really necessary?” She asked as they sat down on the sofa. 

“Of course it was,” she smirked, “there’s so little that amuses me these days and embarrassing your Phillip still makes me smile. Let’s tell him I need to move in with you for a few months and see how he panics!”

“Mom…” Melinda warned, but her lips still pulled up in a smirk. 

“Oh fine! You used to be fun!”

It was that very moment when a fully dressed Phil stepped out of her bedroom that Melinda responded, “I’m still a lot of fun! Just ask Phil how much fun I was last night.”

As quickly as he stepped out of the room, he spun on his heel and walked right back in with a muttered, “Nope. Too soon.”

A soft chuckle escaped the older woman followed by the concession, “Okay…you’re still fun.”

It was ten more minutes before Phil felt safe enough to join them. 

They told her about their trip to Tahiti over tea and spent an hour keeping the conversation to safer topics. 

She stood to leave and hugged Melinda goodbye with an agreement to call ahead next time. She invited Phil to walk her down to the car, and he squared his shoulders and followed her out of the apartment.

"I promise I’ll take care of her and always be there for her” he promised as they took the elevator down alone together. 

She gave him a nod before explaining, “I know you will, Phillip. I’ve known that since I met you. I was waiting to see if she would always be there for you."

“Oh…”

“She’s loved you for a long time, but love is not all it takes. Eventually, you will face hard times together, and my daughter likes to push people away and do things on her own. No relationship can survive that no matter how much you may love each other. Now you are equals and there is a trust you have built together. I know now she will let you in and you can face trouble together. Partners.” 

“Has anyone ever told you what a romantic you are, Mrs. May?” He asked with a smile. 

“One man did. No one has seen him since. He simply disappeared with no trace.”

“Point taken.” He said and the smile quickly left his face. 

She gave him one last look as the elevator opened to the ground floor. “Take care of her, Phil, and let her take care of you too.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He agreed as he walked her out of the lobby and to the curb.

“And if anyone hears talk of…”

“Talk of what, Mrs. May?” He interrupted with a straight face. 

“Goodbye, Phillip,” she said with a knowing smile as she slipped into the non-descript black SUV that was waiting for her. 

He made sure she had truly driven off before heading back upstairs to spend the rest of the day with his best friend. 

It was hard to go back to work the next day, but they managed and luckily things were rather uneventful. 

He was sitting in the conference room with Maria waiting for Fury when she finally brought up the conversation he’d been expecting all day.

“Well, gee Phil, you sure are looking rather tan and rested these days” she complimented with a smirk. 

He smiled happily and went back to studying the file in his hands. “Thanks, Maria!”

“You know…it’s funny,” she continued, “I noticed the same thing about May when I saw her this morning.”

“Did you?” He asked without sparing a glance in her direction. 

She pretended to think it over as she added, “Yeah…come to think of it…you guys were both out on vacation last week.”

“Yeah…you know we realized that it’s easier as partners to take time off around the same time so we don’t get stuck with a replacement partner while the other is out. Huh, guess she was worried about that and took the same week off.”

“Where’d you go?” She prodded. 

“Tahiti”

She grinned at the progress she had finally managed and pushed a little more, “That wouldn’t happen to be the same Tahiti that May went to would it?”

“Did May go to Tahiti? What are the chances?!” He asked, and her eyes narrowed. 

“Seems like high chances”

“Gosh…it would have made total sense to plan our trips together and gotten some kind of lower rate or something. We could have been travel buddies. Oh well…maybe next time,” he shrugged and once again returned to his file. 

She was determined to get him to admit it, so she forged ahead. “Uh-huh….and how was Tahiti?”

“Tahiti? It’s a magical place,” he said with a smile. 

Finally! She smirked as she informed him, “Would you believe that May said the same thing?”

“Gosh…talk about bizarre. We must be more in sync than we thought.”

“Uh-huh…or you’re a couple”

He looked up at her with a concerned look on his face that caught her off guard. “Uh, oh….did May say that? You don’t think she followed me to Tahiti because she has a secret crush on me do you?”

“No. I don’t think that at all,” she said and crossed her arms over her chest. 

He wiped his hands over his face and gave a sad shake of his head. “This is going to make things really awkward. Thanks for the heads up, Maria. You’re a great friend.”

She stared at him for a moment before rolling her eyes and muttering, “I hate you.”

“Love you too buddy!” He whispered with a grin as Fury came in to start the meeting. 

He smiled to himself as Maria kept giving him annoyed looks throughout the meeting. He couldn’t wait to get home and tell Melinda about it. 

Actually, he just couldn’t wait to get home to Melinda. 


	16. Chapter 16

“Phil said you stalked him all the way to Tahiti because you have feelings for him.”

Melinda looked up as Maria barged into the break room and stood leaning against the doorframe with narrowed eyes as she waited for a response. 

She shrugged and went back to fixing her tea. “Yeah…that sounds like something I would do…or maybe I followed him there to make sure the idiot doesn’t get himself killed. Have you heard his Russian? Ughh…every other word is cat.”

“Hey, I have a theory,” Maria continued, “….maybe the two of you are actually together….”

She looked as if she were considering it for a moment before she nodded and said, “That does sound like the most likely conclusion.”

Maria’s eyes widened comically before narrowing as she asked, “Wait…seriously?… You really have a thing for Coulson?”

“Oh yeah…I’m always hot on Coulson,” she said with a smirk as she raised the tea to her lips. 

Maria just rolled her eyes, “Come on, I’m trying to have a serious conversation with you. Ughh….why won’t the two of you just get together? You’d actually be perfect together.”

“I already said we were,” she replied with a shrug and took another long sip of tea as she watched Maria roll her eyes and cross her arms over her chest with an annoyed sigh. 

“Yeah right…like I’m going to believe that. Plus I’ve heard his Russian so thanks for making sure he came back from his vacation alive.”

“Well…we are living together now so I feel like it’s part of the job….”

“Now I know you’re lying,” she scoffed, “Maybe you could think about giving the poor guy a chance.”

“I did. We went to Tahiti…had lots of sex….He’s way better at that than Russian.” She said with a smirk and took another sip of her tea. 

Maria just rolled her eyes again. “Yeah…okay, Mel…I get the point…you’re not interested. Whenever you’re ready, I’ll set you up with agent Chalmers.”

“No thanks. I’m already with Phil. We’re pretty serious,” she informed her with a smile and almost laughed out loud when Maria threw her arms up in frustration. 

“Geez….you’re worse than him. One of these days it would be nice if either of you would just answer the questions like a grown-up and stop trying to mess with me.”

“I can’t make any promises,” she shrugged and moved to return the tea kettle to its proper place.

“Yeah…I’ve got to go to a meeting. I’ll see you later. Want to grab drinks tonight?” She asked from the doorway.

She shook her head and finished cleaning up the tea she had gotten out. “I can’t. Phil and I have plans.”

“Seriously? How hard is it to just say you don’t want to go. Whatever. I’ll see you later,” Maria sighed with a final eye roll as she walked out of the break room.

“Bye, Maria,” she called after her as a smirk settled on her face. Phil was right. It was fun messing with Maria.

She smiled as she finished her tea and moved to clean the empty mug. She glanced at her watch on the way to the sink and smiled knowing it was almost time to go home. She usually stayed and worked well past time to clock out, but knowing that she would have Phil to go home to had her watching the clock all day. She sighed at how sappy she was becoming. She should be disgusted with all the sentiments spewing from her brain these days, but the thought of moving in the rest of Phil’s things that evening brought the smile back to her face in a slightly brighter version than before. She never imagined that she could ever be this happy. She kept cautiously waiting for it all to be stripped away from her, but each day somehow kept getting better as they settled into the life they were building together. 

She decided they deserved to have a little happiness in their lives. 

They finished moving in the rest of his things that night and turned in early to celebrate their first official night living together. He had some upcoming mission strategies that he brought home in order to plan and finalize, so she called Maria to go out for drinks. 

He had felt guilty about ruining their Friday night by bringing work home, but she mentioned making up a girls' night with Maria and he felt better. It was an adjustment to live with someone and have to share and manage life together, but he was soaking up the experience with her. They were still living their own lives and weren’t one of those couples who gave up everything they enjoyed to change their world to revolve around their partner. They just had that certainty that at the end of the day they would come home to each other. They would wake up to each other in the mornings and spend lazy weekends not leaving the apartment, and he smiled blissfully at the domesticity of it all. 

She came to the table where he was working and pressed a lingering kiss on his lips as she told him goodbye. His hands stole around her waist and he turned to face her as he brought her closer once more. 

“This is just drinks with Maria, right? Not a blind date with Agent Chalmers that she’s set up?” He asked with a brow raised suspiciously. 

She sighed as her hands moved up his shoulders to play with the hair at the base of his neck, “Who can be sure where Maria is concerned?”

He nodded in agreement as his hands moved over the leather sleeves of her jacket. 

“But…” she continued with a soft smile, “I’ve got that covered.”

He watched as she stepped back and reached to unzip her jacket. He laughed as the “Property of Phil Coulson” shirt they joked about months ago came into view.

“You like it?” she asked with a smirk and her heart melted at the fondness radiating from his eyes. 

“Mmm-hmm,” he agreed as he tugged her back into his arms, “my name looks good on you.”

She moved to straddle his lap as her arms wrapped around his neck.

“Does it now? If you get all of your work done then when I get home you can show me what else of yours looks good on me.”

His eyes closed blissfully as he leaned his head back against the chair and tightened his grip on her hips. “I love you,” he sighed happily and his heart brimmed with affection for the woman in his arms. 

She smiled and pressed one more lingering kiss to his lips as she replied, “I know. I love you too,” and slipped from his lap. 

“Have fun but hurry home,” he said as she grabbed her keys and moved to the door.

She turned back to look at him with a look that reminded him of their plans when she returned. “Get your work done, Phil.” 

“Oh yes ma’am,” he agreed and she gave a soft laugh as she walked out the door. 

He was determined to be done and not so patiently waiting when she got home. 


	17. Chapter 17

They were prepping for their first field mission together since they’d started seeing each other. This would be the first real test of their ability to have a relationship and still be partnered in the field. He was admittedly excited about being out in the field with her again. She was incredible anyway, but seeing her in her element was a sight to behold. They had always made a great team. He was surprised at first by how in tune they were with each other and how well they seemed to instinctively know what the other needed or where they were. Fury had been impressed with their work and had declared them partners after their first mission. He remembered being intimidated by her before they left and hoping that he would be able to keep up with her. She was already legendary for her skill sets and fighting techniques but she never made him feel like anything less than her equal in the field and that gave him a type of confidence he’d always lacked. As he watched her walk onto the plane and throw a wink his way as she made her way to the cockpit, he felt like a kid on Christmas morning. 

He smiled and pulled out the mission file to study up before they reached Glasgow.

  
She knew when she got up that morning that it didn’t feel right. She brushed it off as just being nervous about their first mission as partners since they’d been together, but she should have trusted her gut. 

It was supposed to be a simple extraction. The three agents who had been there on assignment for the past month under deep cover had sent the extraction signal and nothing else. The signal could have meant that they had simply completed their mission and were ready to be pulled out, but with no other communication, they had taken preparations for a rescue. 

They lost the signal of Agent Torres mid-flight and Phil began making adjustments to their plan. They tracked the last known signal of Agent Rodriguez and Agent O’Neil to a warehouse on the outskirts of the city. 

They landed the Quinjet and had to hike 2 miles in order to avoid detection. Once they were within visual of the warehouse they could see that they were severely out-manned and out-gunned.

It would be a suicide mission to continue with the extraction without backup, so their only option was to radio in for help and wait. It was dark, 49 degrees, and just when she had finally found a comfortable position to sit in, it started to pour down rain. She pulled the hood of her jacket up around her head and crossed her arms to try to keep some of the warmth around her body. She let out a frustrated sigh until she felt Phil slide behind her and pull her tight against his chest. His body managed to block some of the wind and the extra body heat allowed her to finally stop shivering. 

“This sucks,” he whined in her ear and she barely heard him above the rain. 

“Back up is still a few hours out,” she reminded him and smiled a little when he groaned in complaint. His arms tightened around her and she thought to herself that it could be worse. At least they were together and she could think of worse things than a couple of hours sitting wrapped in his arms. She could do without the freezing cold rain though. 

Back up was still over an hour away when things got progressively worse. The life signs of Agent O’Neil started to show distress and they still could not confirm why they had no signal for Agent Torres. They knew that they could no longer wait for help to arrive without risking the lives of the agents so they started to lay out a plan. 

“As soon as you send in the flash bomb, I’ll slip in the side door and take out these two guards here,” she said as she pointed to the heat signatures on the screen they were sharing. 

“I’ll take this one and this one and from this point here I can access the room where they’re keeping our agents. Hopefully at least one of them is able to help clear the path for us to get back out of there,” he said as he gave a final glance at the screen before shutting it off and sliding it back into his pack. “I’ll wait for you to signal you’re in position before setting of the flash.”

“Okay,” she agreed, “Let’s get in there.” 

He stood to follow her towards the warehouse but the reality of what they were about to walk into hit him hard, and he reached out and grabbed her wrist to stop her. She turned back to see what the problem was, but he just cupped her face and brought her lips to his in a long lingering kiss. He pulled away slowly and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead as he supplied, “Just one for the road.”

She reached up and pressed a kiss of her own to her lips, because she knew the stakes and what they were about to risk. She gave him a steady nod as she stepped away and he nodded back that he was ready to proceed. 

The flash bomb set off a buzz of activity as the men inside either dropped to the floor or shouted orders to the other men. Melinda stepped in and took out the first two men according to plan. Phil slipped past her and moved towards the door where they knew the agents where being held, but didn’t find the guards he had seen on the screen earlier. He took it as their first stroke of luck and moved to place charges on the door. He tucked his hands under his arms and turned away as the charges blew and the lock released. What he found inside made him pause. 

Agent Rodriguez was bloody and bruised. Had he not gone over the mission files, he would not even recognize him as a fellow agent. Rodriguez tried to stand and move into a defensive position to protect the others until he recognized the SHIELD insignia on Phil’s coat. Phil turned to the other agents and the air fled from his lungs. Agent Camilla Torres was a still form in the arms of her partner Agent O’Neil. He was clutching her to his chest and rocking her lifeless body back and forth. Phil knew he was in shock and that he would need to approach him carefully, but he also knew that they were out of time and May was still out there outmanned. 

He went into full mission mode and slid Rodriquez a gun and ordered him to watch the doorway. He then moved towards Agent O’Neil and spoke in a soft voice. 

“Mike, I’m here to get you home. You have to come with me now.”

The agent made no move to follow so Phil tried again with a hint more urgency, “Agent O’Neil, we have to move now. Let’s go. That’s an order!”

Those words seemed to take effect as the man’s eyes snapped up and he carefully tried to stand with the precious cargo in his arms. Phil moved to help him and even though he knew it would slow them down to take her body with them, he wasn’t about to leave a fallen agent behind if they could help it. He quickly pulled a shot of adrenaline from his pack and injected it into O’Neil. He’d need him strong enough to move while carrying Agent Torres. He watched the man grit his teeth and then signal a nod as he held her tightly in his arms. 

Phil moved to take the lead and carefully maneuvered them out of the room and towards their exit. He tried to keep his head clear as the sounds of gunfire rang out. He knew Melinda could hold her own and the fact that there was still shooting meant she was still out there fighting. It was slow-moving with their injuries but he managed to get them all to the side door with only a few hostiles that he and Agent Rodriguez had to neutralize. 

“Let’s go, May,” he said into the earpiece as they continued to move. 

There was a bit of static before her voice rang in his ear, “Get them to the plane, Coulson, I’m right behind you.”

He wanted to argue with her and stay to provide backup until she could walk out with him, but he had a mission to complete. With a deep breath that burned his chest, he ordered, “You better be right on my six, May” and moved to lead the others to the plane. 

The hike back seemed impossible and Phil struggled to keep his head clear and focused on getting the two men with him to safety. He lost signal with Melinda halfway back and tried not to panic. Once he had them safely on the plane, he would go back for her. 

It was still pouring down rain and the rescued agents were severely injured and weak. He and Melinda had left two agents on the plane and he was grateful that one of them was a medic. He would leave Rodriguez and O’Neil with him and take Agent Nicholson back with him to get May. He had to practically carry O’Neil the remaining stretch and sighed in relief when the cargo ramp of the plane began to lower. The two agents rushed out to help him and he barely had them back on the plane before he was turning back to get May. He was exhausted and freezing from the rain that had soaked through him on the hike back but adrenaline was coursing through his veins as he sprinted towards the warehouse. The radio still held static and he felt the panic rising in his chest as he prayed that she was still alive. 

The other agent was struggling to keep up with him, but his sole focus was on getting to his partner. 

They had made it halfway back when he spotted a figure in the darkness. He slowed enough to pull his gun and moved carefully towards the silhouette. The figure made a couple more steps towards them before dropping to their knees several yards away. Even in the darkness, he knew that form, and he holstered his gun before sprinting towards her. 

“Phil,” she breathed and he could see her clutching her side. He reached for her hands and knew as soon as he felt the stickiness coat his own that she had been shot. 

“We’ve got to move, May. Can you walk?” He asked and tried to tell as best as he could in the darkness how extensive her injuries were. He pulled his jacket off and pressed it carefully to her side and swallowed hard as she groaned in pain. 

She clenched her jaw and moved to get on her feet, but swayed as soon as she was upright. He carefully scooped her up in his arms and ordered Nicholson to watch their six. 

She passed out before they made it to the plane and he laid her down gently as soon they entered the cargo hold.

“Get us in the air, Nicholson,” he ordered and carefully moved May’s jacket and shirt away to get a look at her injuries. Her lip was split and dark bruises were already forming on her face. He could see blood puddling beneath her and quickly yelled for Agent Phillips to help him. 

They carefully turned her onto her side and Phil was relieved to see that the bullet had passed straight through. Agent Phillips administered a clotting agent to stem the blood loss and Phil helped him pack the wound. 

“It looks like it missed any vital organs but there’ll be a full med team waiting for us as soon as we land, Sir.” 

He nodded to the man and watched as he stood to go back to the rescued agents. 

He grasped her hand and let out a long breath of relief. Agent Rodriguez carefully made his way over and slouched down next to him. 

“She gonna make it?” He asked and his voice sounded rough from either lack of hydration or screaming. 

He nodded and turned to the agent. “What happened back there,” he asked and watched as a hollow look fell over the man’s face.

“The safe house was attacked and we were taken. They tortured us all equally until they realized that O’Neil and Torres favored each other. He threw a fit when they took her the last time and we both pleaded to go instead. She was tough and could hold her own but she had already taken a lot and was so weak from blood loss that they had to drag her out. She had held up for hours that morning without cracking, but this time they said they would go for Mike next and execute him unless she talked. She gave them our mission details and they killed her anyway. They brought her back into the cell just to break Mike and he lost it. He went into shock and just sat there for hours like he was when you found him.”

Phil felt sick listening to him recount what had happened and he grasped Melinda’s hand a little tighter in his. The portable monitor that Agent Phillips had hooked her up to was beeping steadily and his stomach uncurled a little at the sound. 

He was still covered in her blood when Maria found him outside of the medical bay later. They were cleaning Melinda up and had assured him that she would be fine and make a full recovery. She brought his and Melinda’s bags from their lockers and he was grateful for the change of clothes and knew Melinda would be too. She sat with him until the doctor said he could go back to see Melinda and he thanked her again for the change of clothes and promised to have Melinda call her as soon as she was able. 

She was awake and scrolling through a tablet when he walked in. He smiled at how resilient she was and he knew she was looking over the mission report he had filed earlier while he waited for her doctor to come back out. He could tell by the look on her face that she had read the details of why Agent Torres had been killed. 

"Fury gave us the bottle of Haig he had stashed in his office as an apology for sending us to hell without backup. Those were his words. I say we hold onto it and crack it open if we ever have an assignment worse than this one," he suggested in an attempt to relieve the tension he could see radiating from her. 

She put the tablet away and nervously studied her hands as she said, “We need to end this, Phil.”

“Melinda, don’t do this,” he said with a shake of his head as he moved closer to her bed. 

“What if that’s us, Phil?” She asked as she looked up at him with such brokenness in her eyes. “I wouldn’t be objective if I had to choose between you and the mission. You wouldn’t be either and you know it.”

“Then I choose you right now. The job I can walk away from. You, not so much.”

“You say that now, but what if a few years down the road you resent me for costing you this. You’ll regret it.”

“I could never regret a lifetime with you, Melinda. I wouldn’t survive not having you in my life. ‘We’re’ not an option. I’ll walk away right now with you if you want me to, just please talk this out with me.”

“I’d always choose you, Phil,” she whispered and her eyes clouded with a sheen of moisture. 

“Then choose me now,” he pleaded desperately. “What we have is non-negotiable. You mean everything to me Melinda, and I just…I can’t lose you. Please don’t walk away from this.”

“Today was a bad day,” he continued, “Let’s just wait till we go home and talk about it.”

“You really think that we can do this job and still make ‘us’ work?” she asked and the look of uncertainty in her eyes was tinged with the tiniest spark of hope.

He nodded and offered her a soft smile of reassurance, “Yeah, I really do, and if we ever reach the point where we don’t think we can then we’ll walk, but we walk away together. It’s you and me to the end of the line.”

“That sounded like a proposal,” she said with a smirk. 

“Okay,” he nodded and she looked at him with a look mixed with doubt and surprise. 

“Okay?” She asked.

He just smiled and reached for her hand as he pushed forward, “Okay, I’m proposing.”

“Phil….”

“Hear me out….you love me and I am totally in love with you. We know we can work well together and not kill each other….”

She rolled her eyes but a smile tugged at the corner of her lips. “Wow, Phil. This is soooo romantic”

“Ha okay….let me try again,” he offered and sat on the edge of her bed facing her and took her hand in his. “Melinda, I’m so far in love with you that I’d give up everything for even one day with you, so can you maybe consider spending all of the rest of your days with me? Pretty please?”

The smile was full now and reached all the way up to her eyes. “That’s better,” she said and he smiled back. 

“So…..you thinking yeah?”

“I’m thinking yeah.”

He kissed her softly as he tried to avoid her split lip and various IVs and monitors she was hooked to and brushed the back of his fingers across her cheek. He pressed a kiss to her forehead before reaching down and shuffling through the bag Maria had brought from his locker. 

She watched him rummaging around until a smile of triumph filled his face. He turned back to her and resumed his position perched on the edge of her bed before presenting what he had found. 

Her breath caught as he slowly opened the small black box in his hand and pulled out a ring. 

“I’m sorry that we’re doing this here. I should have waited and planned something romantic,” he said as the smile slipped from his lips. 

She reached to place a reassuring hand over his and she smiled as she said, “This is so us, Phil.”

“Yeah,” he agreed with a chuckle, “I guess this is more our style than fancy restaurants and candles.”

She leaned back against her pillows with a grin. “Those things are so overrated. Hospital beds and fluorescent lights are way more romantic.”

“And who needs violins and nice music when we have the steady thrum of monitors to build the moment?” he added and the smile once more filled his face. 

She nodded in agreement, “And I’m making this hospital gown look hot.”

“Oh so hot, babe,” he assured as he leaned down to carefully kiss her again. 

“I love you,” he breathed and she felt it fill her heart. 

“This was my grandmother’s ring,” he explained as he slipped it on her finger, “I can get you something new if you want.”

“This is perfect,” she said as she held it up to study it. “You’ve just been carrying this around?”

“No…I had it in my locker at work,” he explained, “I didn’t want you to accidentally come across it at home."

She nodded thoughtfully before asking, “And how long have you been planning to use this thing?”

“No plan…I just knew that I wanted to ask you. I had planned to wait and give us more time so it didn’t feel like I was rushing you. I’ve just known from the beginning that you’re it,” he confessed with a bashful shrug of his shoulders. 

Her heart flooded with love and affection as she replied, “I’ve known from the beginning too, Phil.”

“Yeah? Even with the Captain America apron?” He inquired with a grin.

A playful smirk stole across her face at the memory. “Oh yeah….even then.”

He traced his fingertips gently across the back of her hand as he said, “I guess this means we’re going to have to tell Fury about us.”

She shrugged and flippantly reminded him, “I don’t know…we’ve been living together for a few months now and no-one seems to notice. Maria still thinks I’m messing with her any time I bring you up.”

“Well, to be fair, we have been messing with Maria,” he replied with a growing smile as he reminisced about the conversations they’d had with Maria since they’d been together. 

“True, but it’s her fault for making it so easy.”

“Also true,” he agreed before a more serious look stole across his face, “you’re really going to marry me?”

“Name the time and place and I’ll be there,” she promised and he pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head. 

“Get some rest, sweetheart, I’ll be here when you wake up.”

She smiled as she closed her eyes.

She’d never been so sure of anything.   



	18. Chapter 18

He had just stepped into the kitchen to put on some tea when there was a knock at the door. He set the kettle on the burner and went to see who it could be. He smiled as he looked through the peephole and saw Maria. 

“I should have known you’d be here to play nursemaid,” she said with a roll of her eyes as soon as he opened the door. 

“Hello to you too, Maria. The doctor said she couldn’t be alone for the next few days, and that’s what partners are for,” he replied and gestured for her to come in. 

She stepped into the living room and dropped her bag in a chair as she offered, “Well, I can stay tonight if you want to go home and get some rest.”

“Yeah…I kind of like it here," he said with a shrug of his shoulders and a playful glint in his eyes, "I think I’m just going to stay here…maybe permanently.”

She smirked and rolled her eyes. “Well,…that’s a plan to get the girl I’ve never heard of. Just quietly move into her place like a squatter and see if she notices. Hey, if you can pull it off long enough you can claim common law marriage and surprise her with the good news.”

“It’s a solid plan so don’t spoil it for me,” he said with a laugh before suggesting, “Why don’t you go check in on May? She’s awake and a little restless stuck in bed.”

She nodded and started to make her way to May’s room. She paused by the bookshelf as she noticed the shelves which normally held several Chinese artifacts passed down from May’s grandmother were now blended with Captain America memorabilia. She arched her brow and turned to ask Phil if he was actually serious about his plan, but he was happily going about fixing tea so she spun on her heel and continued to May’s room. 

May was sitting up in bed flipping through a Star Wars book and smiled when she walked in. 

“You’re looking less like death today,” she said as she sat on the edge of the bed next to her. 

She smirked and shook her head. “You always know how to brighten my day, Maria, I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Well, for one, you’d be stuck with just Coulson for company, but never fear, I offered to stay tonight so he could go home and get a break from being your nurse. So...what do we want to do tonight? Throw a wild party? Movie Marathon of all the movies with hot guys who take their shirts off? We could always….wait a minute….what is that?!” she asked with wide eyes and a look of surprise covering her face. 

Melinda watched her in confusion as she tried to figure out what had caught her attention until Maria grabbed her hand and brought it closer for inspection.

“Is that a diamond on your finger, Melinda May? Like an important kind of diamond?”

“You mean an engagement ring? Yes, yes it is.”

“Did Coulson give you this?” she asked and pulled her hand even closer to look the ring over. 

“Yes, yes he did,” she nodded.

“He slipped it on while you were sleeping didn’t he? Or you were highly medicated and couldn’t really give your consent. He told me his plan out there, but I thought he was joking.”

“Well, I’m not sure which plan you’re referring to. He’s a strategist so he makes plans for a living. I do know that he asked me while I was awake and completely coherent and not under the influence of medication and I said yes,” she replied as she pulled her hand back. 

Maria studied her face carefully and nodded knowingly as she asked, “Is this one of those near-death things where you suddenly realize how short life can be so you make rash decisions in the effort to ‘live your life to the fullest'?...'cause this is pretty sudden."

“Actually, we’ve been together for almost a year now. We’ve been living together for months. I told you, but you didn’t believe me,” she answered with a shrug.

“Because you and Coulson are jerk faces who kept messing with me!" she fussed, but then another thought occurred to her. "Does Fury know?”

“Not yet and we’d appreciate it if you’d let us tell him.”

“Of course," Maria nodded amicably, "under one condition.”

“Which is?” she asked with a suspicious arch to her brow.

An evil grin spread across her face as she requested, “You let me mess with ole Philly out there for a bit.”

“Be my guest,” she submitted with a wave of her hand. 

“Hey, Coulson!” She called out loud enough to be heard from the other room. 

He came in carrying two cups of hot tea for them. “You screeched?”

She just grinned up at him with delight as she proclaimed, “Great news! I’m hanging out here tonight so you can get a break and sleep in your own bed.”

He gave an exaggerated sigh of relief, “Thanks, Maria! I could use a full night's sleep! She’ll need some pain killers about 3 a.m. so I’ll just sleep in the middle. That way you can just get up and come around to Melinda’s side of the bed and I can keep sleeping. You’ll have to get up to get her some water anyway. Plus, I don’t really move much in my sleep and I’ll be less likely to bump her than you. Just to be clear, I’m still going to be the one to help her with her shower so don’t even think about taking that job away.”

She threw her hands up in frustration. “Seriously?!”

"Yes, I'm very serious about the shower thing. Also, I claim sponge baths, but that's the same category so it's understood," he said with a nod and serious expression on his face.

"Ugh...you didn't even flinch...or blush...I was going for at least a stutter," she complained in exasperation. 

“Don’t mess with the master, Maria. I will destroy you,” he warned but she was already turning back to Melinda. 

“You sure you want to marry this guy?”

“Positive,” she said with a smile and he pressed a kiss to her cheek as he set a cup of tea on the bedside table for her. 

He passed the second cup to Maria with a smirk. 

“He better be good in bed,” Maria quipped as he turned to go and gave a satisfied smile as his cheeks flushed pink. 

“Oh he is,” Melinda assured and he gave a fist bump of triumph in the air as walked out the door and towards the kitchen. 

Maria’s face scrunched up in feigned disgust. “Eww…I will never make a comment like that again.” She gave a quick look at the door to make sure he was truly out of earshot before continuing, “Okay, but seriously?”

She shook her head and tossed a spare pillow at her before taking a sip of her tea. 

They talked for a while and Maria promised to check in on her soon before carefully hugging her and walking to the front door. 

“She’s all yours again, nurse!” She declared and rolled her eyes at the sickeningly happy smile that lit up his face. How in the world they were able to keep this under wraps with his lovesick puppy expression was beyond her comprehension. 

He stepped to the door to walk her out and thanked her for checking in on Melinda. He was such a dork and she smiled thinking that she had never seen either of them so happy and that’s with a bullet wound to be considered.

“You’re good for her, Phil,” she admitted, and he shook his head with a soft smile that reached up into his eyes. 

“She’s incredible and I can’t believe she’s even giving me a chance. I'm just so in love with her and I…I never want to live life without her,” he confessed with a shrug of his shoulders as he looked towards the bedroom door. He blushed as he turned back to see Maria watching him with a knowing smile and he opened the door and thanked her once more for stopping by and promised to keep her posted on Melinda’s recovery. 

He closed the door behind her and walked back to the bedroom to find Melinda propped up and once more flipping through the Star Wars book he'd picked up for her. He leaned against the doorframe and enjoyed watching her for a moment. 

“You know…you could come over here and keep me company,” she suggested without even looking up from the page she was reading.

He grinned and pushed off the doorframe before walking over and sliding into the bed next to her. She passed the book to him as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and she leaned into his side carefully. He flipped through the book slowly so that they both had enough time to look over both pages but a few pages later he looked down to find her sound asleep. He smiled fondly before closing the book and carefully placing it on his nightstand. He gently leaned them back into the pillows and decided he’d just join her for a nap. 

He would never pass up the chance to just hold her close for a while. 

He drifted off thinking he might just be the luckiest man in the universe. 


	19. Chapter 19

All was right in his world. Melinda was all healed up and they had been back in their usual work/home routine for two months now. Between missions they’d spent cozy nights at home planning their wedding and making plans for their future. He was happy in ways he’d never imagined and he tried to soak it in and not expect the other shoe to drop. They would be leaving tomorrow for another mission together and he was sitting in his office at work going over the plans for that mission when his future bride dropped by.

“You got a minute?”

He looked up from the file he was reading and smiled when he saw her standing in the doorway.

“I’ll always make time for you,” he promised with a soft smile as he gestured for her to come in and take the seat in front of his desk. 

She closed the door behind her and walked towards his desk, but rather than take the seat he offered, she paced the space behind it with a hint of agitation. 

“What’s up, May? Something on your mind?”

“I wanted to talk about the upcoming mission to Bahrain tomorrow”

“Okay,” he agreed, not expecting that to be what was bothering her. “I’ve read over the mission brief. They want us to go in and be the welcome wagon for a potential powered person. I’ll run the initial contact and you’ll be there…”

“I’m not going,” she interrupted.

“What? Since when? I've got the file right here. Your name is all over it.”

“I’ve been pulled. They’re sending Agent Chavez instead,” she said as she crossed her arms over her chest and looked out the window. 

“Chavez? Why are you not…wait….is it because we’re together?" he asked as he pushed the chair back from his desk in frustration, "We’ve worked hard to keep ourselves professional on the field, and I think we’ve done a great job. Did Maria say something? She promised to let us be the ones to tell Fury about us.”

“It’s not that, Phil,” she said as she turned her eyes back towards him. “I’m being pulled from all fieldwork.”

“What? That’s even crazier! You’re the best agent Shields ever had. You belong in the field,” he argued passionately as he stood from his chair. 

“Yeah. I do,” she agreed quietly.

He could tell she was upset and was determined to make things right. “I’ll talk to Fury. This has got to be a mistake. What reason could they possibly have for…”

“I’m pregnant”

All the air rushed from his lungs in a whoosh and he tried to keep his heart from hammering right out of his chest. His eyes flew up to hers and he could see the fear and anxiety in them as she watched him carefully from across the desk. 

“Say something, Phil,” she pleaded and he could hear the uncertainty lacing her voice. 

He had to work to swallow past the lump in his throat and his eyes starting to sting. A smile spread slowly across his face as he whispered, “I’m going to be a dad.”

The reverent way he said those words calmed her nerves and she felt the moisture building up in her eyes. She nodded slowly and a tear slipped down her cheek.

He quickly made his way around the desk to get to her and his hands reached up to frame her face. His thumb brushed gently over her cheek to wipe away the tear.

“You’re okay with this?” She asked cautiously and his smile brightened. 

“We’re going to be parents, Mel. We made a baby together. I’m more than okay…I can’t...I can't even find the words to tell you how happy I am right now.”

Another tear stole away from her eye and he could see the relief settle across her features. He pressed a kiss to her forehead and then found her lips. He kissed her happily and her hands reached up to grip the lapels of his jacket. 

As he pulled away he began to look her over. “Are you okay? Are you sick? Do you need to sit down? Here, come sit in this chair. I’ll grab you some water. Do you want a snack or something?”

“Phil, I’m fine.” She said with a roll of her eyes but moved to sit in the chair in front of his desk anyway. 

He chose the seat next to her rather than the one behind his desk and took her hands in his as he asked, “How far along? Are you doing okay with all this? When did you find out?”

She smirked at how many questions he was rattling off but her heart flooded with warmth and affection. “I’m about five weeks along. I found out about ten minutes before I came into your office. I had just gone to medical to get final clearance for our mission and it showed up in my test…I’m kind of in shock at the moment...we weren’t planning for this.”

“Well…maybe not this soon,” he agreed, “but we both wanted a family together. We’re just getting a little quicker start.”

She nodded and a smile pulled up at the corner of her lips as the reality of it all seemed to sink in. “I’m going to be a mom.”

“You’re going to be a great mom,” he said as he leaned in to press another kiss to her lips, “Let’s celebrate tonight.”

“Okay,” she agreed and stood to leave his office, “but let's pick up dinner and celebrate at home. I want to spend some time alone with you before you have to leave tomorrow afternoon.”

“Deal,” he said and pressed one last kiss to her lips as he walked her to the door. “I love you, Melinda, and I am so, so excited.”

She pulled him in to hug him close as she pressed her nose to the place where his neck met his shoulder and smiled. She took a moment to breathe him in and compose herself. “I love you too, Phil.”

She kissed him softly before turning and heading out of his office. 

He could barely focus after that. He stared at the files but his mind was turning with thoughts of doctor visits and building a crib and all the other things a baby might need. His heart was overflowing with happiness and he wondered how he possibly did anything to deserve being with Melinda and getting to start a family with her. 

They were waiting outside of Fury’s office later that afternoon. They wanted to be able to tell him before the medical report reached his desk. Maria had held off on telling him about pulling Melinda from the field until they could meet with him, but he was wishing now they would have just let Maria be the one to tell him while they quietly slipped out for the day. 

She reached over and squeezed his hand as Fury’s assistant came out to tell him he was available to meet with them. He took a deep breath and squeezed her hand back before following her into their chief’s office with a hand to the small of her back. He pulled a chair out for her in front of Fury’s desk just as he had every time since they’d met. He’d always been a gentleman, he just got kisses of thanks from her now...but not today. Today was all business. 

“What’s up?” Fury started as he leaned back into his chair with arms crossed over his chest while he waited to see what his top agents could need the day before an important mission. “Is this about Bahrain? You think we should send in less tactical? More tactical? I have a weird feeling about this woman. I want us prepared. Coulson, I want May to be with you at all times in case she tries to play us. She’s looking too cozy with the locals. I don’t like it. May, cover his ass.”

“Yeah….about that…” Coulson replied with a glance towards Melinda.

“I’m pregnant and being pulled from fieldwork until the baby is born,” she interrupted and leaned back in her chair ignoring Phil’s mouth dropping open.

Phil turned towards her in his chair with an incredulous look, “What happened to the plan? We had a plan to ease into that.”

She shrugged with a roll of her eyes, “You had a plan, and it was taking too long. I said we just needed to rip off the bandaid. Now he knows. Oh…we’re engaged too.”

“Seriously?!” Phil said as he threw his hands up in exasperation. 

“Can I say some…” Fury tried to interject but Melinda continued.

“You said you were nervous about telling him so I did it and now it's over. He’s not going to fire us, Phil. I don’t know why this is even a big deal.”

“Well actually…” Fury tried again

Melinda shrugged and carried on, “There’s not a written policy about this. We’ll sign whatever we need to with H.R. to clear Shield of responsibility if you do something dumb and I kill you….”

“If I do something dumb and you kill me?” Phil questioned with an arched brow.

She just rolled her eyes with a tired huff, “We’re clearly not going to break up so that’s the only logical scenario I can come up with for why we would separate now and not work things out.”

Phil nodded in agreement, “Yeah…that makes sense.”

She rose from her chair, “Okay…so we’ll just swing by H.R. and sign that and get back to work. I’m going to grab some tea. I’ll leave coffee on your desk, Phil,” she said as she stood and pressed a kiss to Phil’s cheek, “Thanks, Boss,” she threw over her shoulder as she walked out the door. 

There was a brief moment of silence as they watched the door close behind her until Fury broke it. 

“What the hell just happened?” 

Phil just looked at him with a shrug. “She ripped off the bandaid, Sir, and now she wants tea.”

He just shook his head. “You knocked up May and she’s actually going to marry your ass…” he said as more of a statement than a question. 

Phil just nodded in agreement with a soft smile tugging at the corner of his lips, “Yeah…I can’t quite believe it either.”

“Well, because of you my best agent is being pulled from the field. You’re lucky I’m not shipping you off to the middle of nowhere,” he replied with narrowed eyes and arms crossed as he once more leaned back in his chair. 

“I appreciate your restraint, Sir.”

“Don’t thank me yet, Coulson,” he said and a slow smirk began to spread across his face in a way that made the hair on the back of Phil’s neck stand up, “I’m just going to wait and let May’s mother take care of you.”

The air fled from his lungs as reality set in. The ghostly pale look that washed over his face had Fury’s laughter ringing down the hallway. 

  
She came home later that evening and smiled as the scent of dinner filled her senses. He must have decided to cook instead of picking something up. She dropped her keys in the bowl by the door and smiled as she made her way towards the kitchen, but it faded as she realized that Phil was not there. Their bedroom was empty as well so she made her way to the guest room that they had turned into his office. She leaned in the doorway with arms crossed over her chest as she tried to figure out what he was doing. 

She watched as he measured the wall then pulled a pencil from behind his ear and made a quick note on the notepad on his desk. She smiled fondly as he went to the next wall to repeat the process. As he went to measure the next wall, his eyes finally caught sight of her and he smiled. 

“Hey you, welcome home!”

“Hi, what’s going on in here?” She asked from her position in the doorframe. 

His smile brightened as he moved towards her and took her hand to gently tug her into the room. 

“It’s hard to see it now…but just try to picture it. It will look different when I have all of the furniture out of here,” he started to explain. 

Her brows knit in confusion, “What are you talking about?”

He walked to the far side of the room and animatedly started laying out his plan, “We could put the crib right here, and then we could put a rocking chair here so we could have a nice view of the city while we rock her…or him….to sleep….then we could put the changing table over there in the corner…and I’m going to be totally honest here and tell you that I don’t really know what else a baby needs…but I’m going to look that up after you tell me what color you want the room painted.”

She smiled and moved towards him with a look that made his heart race. 

“You’re planning out a nursery….for our baby,” she said softly and he wrapped his arms around her waist and drew her close. 

“Yeah…I mean…I know we still have plenty of time…I was just a little excited,” he explained with a sheepish grin that made her heart swell with love and affection. 

She glanced around the room but her eyes came back to his with a questioning look, “But what about your office?”

“We can put everything into storage and I can just camp out at the kitchen table if I need to get work done at home,” he suggested with a shrug and kiss to her lips.

She slid her hands up his chest to link behind his neck as she said, “I kind of have an idea that I thought about today.”

“Oh yeah? What is it?”

“Well, I was thinking that maybe we could look at a house. Maybe find a quiet neighborhood somewhere. Just somewhere so we could get to and from work without a long commute, but far enough away to feel like we could get away from work and relax.”

“You want to get a house?” He asked surprised by the idea, “But you love living here. You love the city life and this apartment.”

“Yeah…” she agreed, “but today I just kept thinking about us coming home with our baby and spending weekends home…and I want a backyard for our kid to play in. I want a driveway so you can teach them to ride their bike. I don’t want you to feel pressured…”

“Pressured?” He interrupted, “You know how sappy I can be. You could have just led with the bike thing! I’ll call the real estate agency right now!” He said excitedly and moved towards the door. 

She laughed and tugged him back to her arms, “We can call tomorrow. Right now I was thinking we could celebrate our good news.”

“Mmm….I like the way you think,” he murmured against her skin as he trailed kisses down her neck. 

The sound of her stomach growling had him pulling away with a grin. He pressed a kiss to her lips before stepping back and taking her hand. “Dinner first,” he suggested and led her out of the office and to the kitchen.

She smiled and followed him happily towards the heavenly smell she’d come home to.

  
They lay in bed later with her head on his bare shoulder and hand pressed to his chest. His fingers traced a trail from her hand down her arm and up to her shoulder as they bounced ideas back and forth

“Carter?” He suggested hopefully.

She rolled her eyes. “As in Peggy Carter? No.”

“Oh come on! Carter Coulson is great.”

“You’re just picking names that are associated in any way with Captain America. Stop turning our kid into a nerd before it’s even born.”

“So…I’m guessing Roger is off the table too?”

“Bingo.”

“Nope, that’s definitely a dogs name….Ow!” He cried out as she playfully pinched his side. 

“You know this means we definitely have to tell my mother now…and soon.”

“Yeah…” he sighed.

She turned her cheek and pressed a sympathetic kiss to his shoulder as she offered, “What if we just invite her for the weekend and surprise her with a wedding and a baby.”

“Yeah….that’s great. Then we could knock those out and my funeral all in the same weekend. She’ll appreciate our efficiency if nothing else.”

“Fine….we’ll call her in a couple of days when you get back from Bahrain,” she suggested and pressed closer to his side as her eyes closed contentedly. 

He sighed again as his fingers returned to the path they were trailing over her arm. “I don’t want to leave you,” he whispered, “it’s going to be worse when the baby is born and I have to go.”

“You’re here with us now” she reminded him as her lips started to trail kisses from his shoulder up his neck, “Carpe diem, Phil,” She murmured as her lips found his. 

And so he did. 


	20. Chapter 20

She paced the apartment and tried not to check the time again. His flight from Bahrain was delayed and she was growing anxious. He had called her to check in briefly from the field to let her know that things had gone south but he was fine. Even with a secure line, he couldn’t tell her much more than that until he got home so she was left pacing their apartment and waiting. 

She couldn’t tell if the nausea was from nerves or the baby but she’d already given up her dinner and the scent of the tea she had tried to make earlier made her stomach roll. 

She gave in and checked the clock again. He was two hours late now. 

‘Screw this,’ she thought and reached for the phone to call Maria. Right before her thumb pressed the ‘send’ button she heard the keys in the lock and felt the weight slide from her shoulders. 

She held her breath as she watched the door open and she cursed the stinging in her eyes when she finally saw him. 

He was dirty and his suit was wrinkled, but he gave her the sweetest smile when he looked up and saw her. She was in his arms a minute later and he held her tight with his face buried in her neck. 

“I’m sorry…I was going to shower and clean up before I came home, but I just needed to get to you,” he murmured into her neck.

She squeezed her eyes tight. “Good call. I was about to go hunt you down and bring you home myself.”

He smiled against her skin knowing she meant that and pulled away enough to frame her face in his hands and bring her lips to his. 

“You okay?" She asked cautiously as they pulled away, and he nodded slowly. 

He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as he spoke, “I’m glad you were here safe, Melinda. Things went south but an Inhuman woman, Jiaying, and an Inhuman man showed up and disappeared with the target and a girl. Turns out the child was Inhuman too and had some kind of mind control abilities. She had all of our agents in some kind of trance and who knows what would have happened if they wouldn’t have shown up. They said they would take them somewhere safe and then just vanished. I think the man has teleporting abilities. We have no idea where they went and it brings up a lot of concerns. How many Inhumans are there and how many of them are as dangerous as the child?”

“I should have been there,” she muttered and he shook his head. 

“You were here safe…and our baby is safe. I couldn’t take it if something happened to you two.” He confessed and a look of pain flashed across his face at the mere thought of it. 

She pulled away enough to look him over. “And you’re safe? No injuries?” She asked and looked carefully for any signs of blood or bruises.

He shook his head with a soft smile, “I’m fine. A little dirty but I’m fine.”

“Let me help you clean up and then you can prove it,” she offered and he smiled happily as she pulled him towards the bathroom. 

Thoughts of heading to bed to crash left him as she turned the shower on and began to undress. He suddenly had a burst of energy. 

He was still sleeping soundly the next morning when she slipped back into bed and pressed against his side. 

She had already gone through her morning workout and he caught the smell of shampoo as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. 

“I wanted to surprise you with breakfast in bed, but your baby thought eggs smelled gross and it warranted a mad dash to the bathroom to give up my tea,” she explained with a sigh. 

  
The biggest smile spread across his face. ‘his baby’. He pressed a kiss to her head and gripped the hand she had resting over his chest. 

“Well, it must be my genes causing the problem, because clearly yours would have better control and never waste good tea. Have you tried coffee? Maybe my kid is jonesing for a fix and you’re offering the wrong thing.” He suggested and smiled at her huff of displeasure and barely audible ‘yuck’.

“I threw up making eggs….you’re on your own for coffee,” she informed him and he chuckled as he closed his eyes and relaxed back into the pillows.

“Deal,” he agreed with a smile and started drifting off again. 

She turned her cheek to press a kiss to his shoulder before suggesting, “I thought we could just spend a lazy day at home together….maybe look up houses for sale this afternoon.”

“Mmm…hmm,” he agreed and a large dopey grin spread across his face. “We’re gonna buy a house together.”

She hummed in agreement and he continued, “And you’re going to marry me.”

She hummed again but a happy smile graced her lips, “and we’re having a baby,” she added.

“We’re having a baby,” he echoed. “I never even thought you’d go out with me.”

“Good thing you took a chance and asked then.” She said as she propped herself up on her elbow to see his face while they talked. Her other hand was still held in his against his chest and he turned his face towards her and opened his eyes with the sweetest smile. 

“Good thing you ditched the shrink,” he added with a playful smirk. 

She just nodded in agreement with a smile as she leaned down to press a kiss to his lips. 

‘Good thing indeed,’ she thought as he leaned forward to press her back into the bed and trailed kisses down her neck. 

She couldn’t agree more. 

They eventually made it out of bed and she carefully sipped another cup of tea while he made toast and cut up fruit. He didn’t want to risk making her sick again with the smell of anything cooking, and her heart flooded with warmth at how very considerate and thoughtful he was. 

They spent the afternoon curled up on the couch with her laptop looking at houses and she marveled at how very comfortable she felt in the life they were building. She had always been so focused on her career and had been so sure she would never have a life like this if she stayed in SHIELD. She knew it would be hard to spend the next year out of the field and even harder to have to sit back while Phil went out on missions without her, but as she settled back against his chest on the couch with his hand resting affectionately against her belly where their baby was safely growing and developing she knew it would be worth it and a small sacrifice in comparison. 

The kiss he pressed to the crown of her head made her smile and she slid her hand over his as she turned her attention back to the afternoon movie they had decided on. She laced their fingers with a sigh of contentment. 

She wanted to soak in the quiet afternoon with him. She’d wait till tomorrow morning to tell him her mother was coming for a visit. ‘No need to incite the panic until she had to’ she thought with a knowing smirk.

She’d let him relax and enjoy the day.


	21. Chapter 21

She woke to the soft press of lips to her shoulder. A smile spread across her face and she felt an answering smile form against her skin. 

“My mother’s going to be in town this weekend and wants to see us for dinner,” she spoke quietly and was surprised when he paused for merely a second before continuing to press kisses to her skin. 

“Phil,” she tried again, “Did you hear what I just said?”

“Mmm…hmm,” he murmured between kisses, “just making the most of my last few days of life.

She laughed softly and turned in his arms to lay on her back so that she could see his face. “She’s not going to kill you, Phil. You’re giving her a grandchild.”

“Yes….because I knocked up her daughter. You know…I can’t really see her jumping straight to planning the baby shower without a quick stop to murder me.”

“Ughh…such a drama queen,” she fussed with a roll of her eyes. 

“Easy for you to say! You’re pregnant with her grandchild. She won’t hurt you until the baby is born. You’ve got months to get back on her good side. I’ve got a mere few hours to beg Fury to make me disappear before she gets here.”

She laughed at that and cupped his cheek with a patronizing look in her eyes, “That’s cute that you think there’s anywhere you can run where she won’t find you.”

“So encouraging, Melinda. Tell my child I was a good man and grandma murdered me,” he whined as he propped himself on his elbow and rested his head in his palm. Her smile grew increasingly playful as she mirrored his position. 

“Nah, I’m just gonna say that Captain America was the father and that’s why there is so much of his stuff laying around. He left me to save the world again. I was upset at first but realized it would have never really worked out anyway. I don’t think he could handle me.”

“I hate you.”

She simply shrugged with a knowing grin. “No, you don’t. You love me and you want to marry me….which you also have to tell my mom when she gets here.”

“Oh…I get to tell her that too?" he asked with an arched brow, "And…what exactly is it that you have to tell her?”

“That she is the best mother in the world, and I hope that I am half the mother that she was,” she answered with a smile and he shook his head. 

“I hate you.”

Her smile just grew as she continued to tease him. “I’ll keep some pictures of you around the house…tell the kid you were a good man….maybe the landlord…”

She squealed as he pinned her to the bed and his fingers found the sensitive spot on her side that she swore didn’t exist.

“Okay, okay you win! I’ll get rid of Captain America!” She promised and tried to catch her breath. 

Her face was flush and her eyes were sparkling with humor and affection. He hovered over her for a moment to drink in the sight before lowering his lips to find hers. 

She sighed in contentment and slid one hand free from his to slide up his arm and over his shoulder until she could thread her fingers through the hair at the back of his head. 

“I love you,” he sighed as he tilted his head to deepen the kiss and she smiled against his lips. 

He groaned as her phone began to ring from its place on her nightstand, and she gave him a look of equal frustration as she moved to check the caller ID.

  
“Hello, Mom,” she answered and smirked at the way his face turned pale. “Oh, you’re going to catch an earlier flight? Yes,…we can meet you for dinner at 6. Yes,…Phis is really looking forward to it. See you tomorrow night.” She ended the call and placed the phone back on the nightstand. 

“Okay….” He sighed and nodded as he came to a decision and began trailing kisses across her shoulder, “If I’m to die tomorrow night then I might as well make the most of it.”

“So dramatic,” she exclaimed breathily. 

It was at that moment that his phone began to ring and they both groaned in annoyance. 

He looked at the I.D and ran his hand over his face as he answered, “Yes sir?...... Understood...Yes, she’s here. I can, but do you think it’s wise that she…? Understood, sir. Yes, sir, we will.”

He stared at the phone for a moment after hanging up and she moved to sit up against the headboard. 

“What’s up?” She asked when her patience grew thin. 

“Fury needs us to go meet an informant later,” he sighed and placed the phone on the nightstand as he moved to sit against the headboard next to her.

She wasn't following and arched a confused brow as she probed, “Okay….what’s wrong with that?”

“You’ve been pulled from fieldwork. I tried to remind him of that, but he said it wasn’t combat and you’d be fine.”

She shrugged and watched confused as the frustration played across his face. “Okay then. What’s the problem?”

“You’re pregnant,” he replied exasperated that she wasn't understanding the problem. 

Her eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms over her chest as she responded in a slow tone full of warning, “Yes, pregnant….not dead. I can still do things, Phil. Most women work all the way up to delivery and it’s perfectly fine.”

“Yeah…but those women aren’t ninjas whose job is to do flippy things and beat people up. Also…those women aren’t pregnant with my kid so….totally different rule book we’re working with here,” he argued with a frustrated tone lacing his words. 

She sighed and reached for his hand. “Phil, I love you…and I don’t want to do anything to worry you or stress you out….”

“But? There’s definitely a ‘but’ to that sentence.”

“But…If you try to mother me and not let me do things during this pregnancy I will kill you.”

“I know…it’s just…” he started but her grip on his hand tightened uncomfortably and there was a dangerous glint in her eyes when he looked up. 

“Kill you, Phil. Totally kill you,” she cautioned and he swallowed a little harder than he should. 

He sighed in defeat, “Fine. Just…be careful…okay?”

She sighed and her grip on his hand relaxed as she laced their fingers and offered him an understanding smile. “Phil, this is my baby too. I’m not going to do anything to risk the safety of our child. I need you to trust me to take care of it.”

He nodded and he knew he was being paranoid and that he needed to trust her. He squeezed her hand affectionately and offered her a soft smile as he assured her, “There is literally no one in the world that I trust more than you. I’ll stop being weird about it now.”

“Thank you”.

“Plus your mom's going to kill me anyway so it doesn’t even matter what you threaten me with…”

“Ohh…it still matters…..trust me. It matters.”

He chuckled and gave her one last kiss before reluctantly leaving the bed and heading towards the shower. He’d stop fussing over her.

Well….he’d still fuss over her…he’d just need to be much more subtle about it. 

He had a bad feeling about the meet and was regretting Melinda being with him as every second inched closer to the designated time. She seemed perfectly relaxed, and he glanced at her stomach where their baby was growing safely. 

“I won’t show for a while,” she said, and he looked up sheepishly at having been caught staring. Guess he was going to have to work even harder on that subtlety thing.

“Stop worrying, Phil,” she admonished gently and reached across the car console for his hand. 

He looked up at her with a shrug. “I can’t help it. You’re my whole world, Melinda. I’m not willing to lose either one of you.”

“We’re not going anywhere, Phil. I’ll be careful. Okay?” She said with a soft smile and gentle squeeze of his hand. 

He opened his mouth to respond but she sat up straighter in her seat. “He’s here,” she said and nodded in the direction of the man slipping from the shadows as she reached for the door handle. He took a deep breath and squared his shoulder as he moved to get out of the car.

The informant seemed jumpy and one look at Melinda showed that she felt it too. 

Ricco was young and his eyes kept darting between them. He could have just been scared, but they were trained to know the difference. He used a soothing tone as he tried to get all of his attention so that Melinda could slide behind him, but Ricco was too keyed up and pulled his gun before she could get out of his peripheral. 

“I’m sorry…I wanted to help you I promise…but they’ll kill me and…I…I don’t want to die, man,” he explained and waved the gun towards him. 

“Hey… no one wants that.” He said in a calm voice with hands held out. “We can protect you. If you just…”

“They’ll find me!” He insisted. “They already killed Nikki right in front of me, and no one has seen Milo in days. You can’t protect me. No one can…they’ll…”

Ricco’s words were interrupted by Melinda’s boot connecting with his wrist. His gun flew from his hand and slid under the SUV. He turned in surprise to Melinda who spun towards him and landed a blow to his midsection with the heel of the other boot. He stumbled backward but then growled and rushed towards her. His shoulder rammed into her midsection and he slammed her into the SUV. 

Phil quickly reacted and grabbed the back of the Ricco’s jacket and pulled him back. He released him just long enough to turn him around so that his fist could connect with the Ricco’s jaw. Blood started to seep from his split lip but the guy was desperate to survive and lunged towards him. He set his feet in a defensive stance to prepare for the blow, but Melinda’s foot swiped under Ricco’s legs and knocked him to the ground. One final punch to the jaw had him out. 

She looked pale and her arms were wrapped around her stomach protectively. Her eyes looked worried when they connected with his and he immediately started moving towards her. 

“Melinda, are you okay?”

She licked her lips and shook her head slowly. “I think we should go to the hospital…I don’t feel right.”

His heart tightened and he tried not to panic. He secured Ricco while Melinda contacted HQ to let them know what had happened. He wasn’t willing to wait around so he got Ricco in the back seat and arranged for a team to meet them at the shield medical facility to take Ricco in. 

Maria was already waiting with a few agents and an SUV and the exchange was made quickly. Melinda was even quieter than usual and Maria shared a look of concern with him as they waited to be called from the waiting room. 

He sat in the chair next to her while the nurse went over her medical history and checked her blood pressure and heart rate. She appeared calm, but he knew her. Her eyes were clouded with fear and her fingernails were leaving little crescent marks in the palms of her hands. He reached over and wrapped her hand in his and she relaxed her hand into his and squeezed it back gratefully. Their eyes flew to the door as the doctor stepped into the room. 

“Your body is designed to protect your baby. Right now the tiny little thing is floating around in the amniotic sac like a giant water cushion. Your body can handle a lot, but you took quite the blow earlier,” he explained, “We’re going to do an ultrasound and just make sure everything is okay.”

She nodded and squeezed his hand a little tighter. He swallowed the giant lump forming in his throat and sent up a prayer that everything was fine. 

The doctor moved the wand around over the gel he had squirted onto Melinda’s belly. The silence in the room made him feel sick to his stomach and he watched the screen intently. 

Then his heart stopped.

Their baby. 

Melinda squeezed his hand, and he drew his eyes away from the screen to find hers. She had a sheen of moisture coating her eyes and he tried to think of something to say. He just couldn’t find the words. 

His eyes moved back to the screen and focused on the tiny bean-shaped spot. 

“You’re probably going to be a little sore for a few days,” the doctor said and clicked a few keys on the computer keyboard. “You’ve got some bruises already forming so just rest and give yourself some time to heal.”

She nodded mutely and wiped at her eyes. 

“Your baby looks perfectly fine, Agent May. I’m going to print off a few of these pictures for you, so you’ll have them to show off. Here’s a towel to clean your belly off with,” he said as he handed her a small hand towel and moved to stand. "We have a special training course to teach you how to protect the baby during a fight while you're pregnant if you're interested. You can still work and do things within reason while pregnant. I'll have Agents Sanders contact you with the information."

He heard the doctor talking and even reached out a hand to shake his when it was offered, but he couldn’t seem to pull his eyes away from the screen and that tiny little spot. 

“I’m so sorry. Phil” she whispered once they were alone in the room. 

He managed to move his eyes from the monitor and focus on her. He understood her words and meant to tell her that it was okay and that they were just both a little paranoid, but instead, a goofy smile spread across his face and he pointed to the screen where the image if their child was frozen. 

“That little grey thing is our baby,” he said reverently and the wonderment on his face made her eyes water again. 

“It’s just so real now,” he continued, “We’ve talked about it…but getting to see it…" he trailed off and then a sudden thought occurred to him, "I get to go to all the doctor appointments right? Like when we can hear the heartbeat and take more pictures and stuff?”

She nodded and wiped the tears from her cheeks and his smile just grew wider. 

“Your mom’s not going to kill me now, Melinda,” he stated confidently as his eyes continued to map the image on the screen, “She’ll want to at first, but we’ll just show her the pictures and she’ll let me live.”

She shook her head. “You’re such a sap, Phil," she replied with a roll of her eyes before conceding softly, "but…deep down my mom really is too so,…I think she’ll let you live.”

Her gaze alternated between the screen and his awestruck expression as he looked at it. She was overwhelmed with love and affection for the man next to her. She didn’t deserve him, and she knew it. He was the greatest man she’d ever met, and she was positive that having this baby with him was going to be the most incredible experience. She also knew with a steady confidence that it wouldn’t be the picture that kept her mother from killing Phil; it would be the look of absolute rapture that covered his face as he showed off the picture of their baby.

Even her mother couldn’t resist that. 


	22. Chapter 22

He was pacing again. He’d been doing that for twenty minutes and if he does it one more time…

“Phil! Stop it, or I’ll kill you.” She ordered and his head snapped up guiltily. 

“We should have just had her meet us at a restaurant. Whose idea was it to cook dinner for her here?” He whined as he turned and traversed his path again.

She arched her brow. “Yours…because you didn’t want to have to tell her you knocked up her daughter in a public place.”

“Well, that was stupid. She couldn’t have killed me with all those witnesses.”

“Ha…that’s cute, Phil. Silent murder in public places is her specialty. They have a plaque for her and everything.”

“Not helping, Melinda.”

“Then stop pacing, Phil.”

“Fine,” he huffed and plopped down on the couch next to her.

“She’s not even supposed to be here for another half hour.”

“Which is why I expected her to show up an hour ago just to prove that time has no control over her.”

His head snapped to the door as the ominous sound of knocking filled the room. 

“See,” he said smugly and she rolled her eyes as she stood to go open the door. 

He stood and nervously wiped his hands on the front of his pants and tried not to be too obvious as he scanned the apartment for possible escape routes. He took a steadying breath as Melinda opened the door.

“Seriously?!” He groaned as the door opened and he caught sight of their guest. 

“I couldn’t miss this train wreck!” Maria exclaimed gleefully handing Melinda the bottle of wine she’d brought as she walked into their apartment. “Your mom’s not here yet, right? I got here early so I didn’t miss anything.”

Melinda sighed and took the bottle. “It’s probably for the best, Phil, Maria can provide some comic relief throughout the night.”

“Or provide his eulogy! You want to hear what I’ve got prepared so far?”

“No.”

Deciding to ignore him, she cleared her throat and put on a mock-serious face as she forged ahead anyway. “Phillip J. Coulson was a brave man. No one even thought he had the balls to ask Agent May on a date…let alone steal her virtue…”

“Wow…that’s good stuff, Maria,” he interrupted with a shake of his head. 

She beamed. “Poetry, right?!”

“Maybe we just let Maria tell my mom” Melinda offered with a smirk and raised brow at Phil, but Maria just shook her head.

“No way….half the joy for me tonight will be Phil’s awkward stumbling as he tries to spit it out.”

He smiled and went back to pacing. “You’re a great friend, Maria,” he threw over his shoulder. 

The sound of knocking flooded the room once more and a grin spread across Maria’s face as Phil froze in place.

“Times up, Phil,” she warned cheerfully and rubbed her hands together in anticipation. 

He let Melinda and Maria welcome her in while he moved to the kitchen to pull out the various dishes he had been keeping warm in the oven. He took his time plating each one as he silently gave himself a pep talk and thought through exactly how he was going to break the news to his future mother-in-law. He just needed to take his time tonight. There was no need to rush and ruin the evening with his murder. He could do this. He just needed to play it cool and wait till everyone was full and happy then just ease into it after she'd had a few glasses of wine. He had spent all afternoon writing and preparing his speech. It was well-rehearsed and sentimental without being cheesy. He just needed to take a breath and give the speech. He could do it. 

He pasted on a smile as he brought dinner to the table and took the seat next to Melinda. Her mother was on his other side which made it easier for her to reach him for any assassination attempt she might try, but he decided it would still be better than sitting across from her and have to see the consistent look of disdain she would undoubtedly send in his direction throughout the meal. 

“So…Ms. May, what have you been up to these days?” Maria started as they began to eat. 

“Nothing that I am at liberty to discuss,” she answered curtly, but that just seemed to spur Maria on.

“Well, that’s okay!” She insisted, “Phil has plenty to discuss! Don’t you buddy?” 

He really had some not so nice words he wanted to discuss with Maria, but he was wise enough to know that it wouldn’t help anything so he cleared his throat. 

“How long will you be in town?” He asked and hoped his voice didn’t sound as squeaky as he thought it did. 

Her thin lips formed the closest thing to a smile that he had seen since she arrived as she answered, “I leave tomorrow morning. I was only able to be here for a short time and thought it would be nice to…pop in.”

“That is nice!” Maria agreed with a playful smile, “Family is just great. What are your thoughts on family, Phil?”

He turned to Melinda for help but she just sat there chewing her food with an amused smile tugging at her lips. Well,…he could handle it. He just needed to tread carefully. He took a deep breath and decided to just relax and…

“Melinda’s pregnant with my baby and we’re getting married,” he blurted out and all eyes turned to him as everyone froze at the abruptness of his announcement. 

“Smooth, Phil,” Melinda muttered beside him and Maria’s eyes widened as she choked on the wine she had been attempting to swallow. 

Silence filled the room, and he really wanted the floor to open up and take him mercifully to another dimension….a galaxy far far away. Her mother hadn’t said anything yet. She just looked at him for a moment before turning her eyes towards Melinda. 

“Are you eating well, Quolian?” She asked a moment later while casually taking another vegetable onto her fork and placing it into her mouth as she waited for Melinda to respond.

She rolled her eyes but a “yes, mom,” pushed past her lips before she turned her attention back to the zucchini on her plate. 

“Good,” her mother said with a nod and turned to Maria who was sitting there comically in shock over the quick declaration he had made. “Now, Maria, have you given any thought to coming to work for MY agency?”

“Not since the last time you were here and asked me to switch over. It does sound tempt…”

“That’s it? No comments or questions….murder attempts?” He asked once the initial shock wore off to be replaced with indignation at the anticlimactic response she had given.

She shrugged and speared another vegetable. “We already discussed your fornicating with my daughter on my last visit, Phillip, surely you know where babies come from by now. Were you expecting me to be shocked by this inevitable turn of events?”

“Umm….yes…” he answered slowly.

She shrugged again, “I’m sorry to disappoint you then. Now, we should discuss when I will need to return for the wedding. I’m assuming you will wish to do it soon while you can still fit into a dress.”

"How are you not even slightly surprised by this? You didn't even blink?" he tried again. 

"Okay. We're doing this," Maria chimed in and leaned forward in her seat. 

They watched as her mother placed her silverware down and sighed like an aunt about to patronize a small child. "I am a spy, Phillip, a very good one at that. You have been even more jumpy and nervous than you usually are when I'm around, and that says a lot. My daughter has a wine glass by her plate that is still full. She is usually on her third glass by now when I have dinner with her, and yet she has not touched hers. If the longing looks she keeps casting in its direction is anything to go by, it is not that she does not want to drink it; it is because she cannot. Now, let's talk about the wedding."

He tuned out after that as he sat back in his chair and tried to puzzle out what exactly just happened. 

“Once the baby is born, I will make both your marriage and the child disappear,” she announced a few minutes later and that certainly snapped him back to attention. 

“Wait…what? I thought you were okay with this,” he said as his eyes moved between her and Melinda trying to figure out what he had just missed in the last couple of minutes. 

She placed her silverware down and calmly folded her hands in her lap as she sat back in her chair. “You and my daughter are high-value targets for your enemies. If they know you are married with a child then your family will never be safe. My wedding gift to you will be using my connections to make all of the records disappear. You will be legally married, but as far as the rest of the world is concerned your family will not exist. I have deep connections and I can make you practically invisible.”

“You’d do that for us?” He asked and held his breath. 

“I would do anything for my family,” she promised and her eyes locked steadily with his but instead of the fear that usually coursed through him from that look, he was imbued with a sense of strength and determination. They were finally on the same page. 

“Me too,” he stated firmly, and finally a real smile graced her lips. 

Her eyes held his and a quiet understanding passed between them. “I know.”

“Thank you,” he replied and the tension drained from his body as the feel of Melinda’s hand on his thigh replaced it with warmth and affection. He covered her hand with his own.

Finally, Maria came alive again and turned towards Melinda’s mother with renewed enthusiasm. “So…there’s got to be some kind of crazy ritual Phil has to go through before the wedding right? I’m fine if you just make something up…the more awkward or embarrassing the better,” she chimed in. 

He rolled his eyes and went back to eating now that he finally had an appetite. He looked up when Melinda’s soft hand flipped over and her fingers laced with his and squeezed gently. Her smile was just as soft and his heart flooded with warmth and affection. 

He couldn’t imagine a better family to have just been accepted into. 

  
“So…that went well!” He cheered as they cleaned up once it was just the two of them again.

“Maria was so disappointed,” she sighed and placed the last dish into the dishwasher. 

“Sounds like you were disappointed”

“Well, it was rather anti-climactic after how dramatic you’ve been waiting to tell her.”

He leaned his hip against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest with a smile as he asked, “Were you wanting her to kill me?” 

“Well…not kill you…but it would have been fun to watch you flounder a little more. I wasn’t expecting you to just blurt it out like a helpless toddler,” she teased as she mirrored his position. 

“I was ripping off the bandaid!" he argued, "It’s better to just get it over with. It was the best course of action and I…”

“You panicked,” she interrupted with her eyes dancing and tongue pressed to the inside of her cheek in amusement. 

His smile was full as he nodded in agreement. “I totally panicked…but it all worked out and now it’s done. Also, the realtor called and said we can check out those houses tomorrow if you want.”

She let out a soft laugh and he looked at her in confusion. “What’s funny?”

“Just this…it’s so…domestic. I know 50 ways to kill a man without even touching him, and I’m pregnant and house hunting with my partner. Just never imagined this life for myself,” she shrugged.

His stomach clenched, “Do you regret it?”

Her eyes locked with his and she reached down to take his hand in hers. “Not for a second. Just because I didn’t imagine it doesn’t mean I didn’t want it. I just wasn’t sure I’d be good at the whole wife and mother thing. I didn’t exactly have a warm fuzzy role model for the job at home growing up. It’s just…I can walk into a room outmanned and outgunned and feel fully confident, but this….is a little terrifying.”

“I know, right?!” He chuckled. “We can’t send it back once it’s born and I’m feeling pretty confident I’m going to screw this all up,” he confessed but then he took a step closer and took her other hand in his. He waited until her eyes met his again before continuing. “But then I look at you, Melinda…and sometimes I can’t breathe. You’re everything my heart could ever want, and just the thought that you love me back…that you want to be my wife…that you’re having my child…it’s enough to make me work…to give everything I am not to mess this up. You are the strongest woman I know and getting to do all of this with you is the sweetest gift the universe could ever give me, and I know that together we can figure this out. We’re partners…it’s what we do.”

“I knew it would be like this with you,” she said with a shake of her head as she tried to blink back the moisture his words had conjured up. “You’re such a sap.”

“You like it,” he teased with a smirk and pulled her into his arms. 

“No I don’t” she argued, but her arms slid up his chest to lock behind his neck.

Her eyes held happiness and contentment and he fell a little bit more in love with her. “Lil bit?” He countered.

“Lil bit,” she confirmed and finally pressed her lips to his. 

He wasn’t sure what he did to ever deserve this, but he was going to do everything in his power not to lose it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So very sorry for the delay! Hopefully schedule has settled down enough to be able to post on a regular basis again. Thanks for your patience and kind words of encouragement.


	23. Chapter 23

They found a house. It was only the third one they looked at for which she was extremely grateful. It was a three-bedroom with an office and a finished upstairs that could function as a guest room or future playroom for the baby. She didn’t think she could love a house, but she had walked from room to room picturing Phil and their family and knew it was the one. They’d gone straight to the realtor’s office to sign the papers.

That had been a month ago, and they still had a couple of weeks before they could move in. She reached down and grabbed more bubble wrap to wrap the next figure from the shelf. It was an heirloom figure from her grandmother that had been passed down to her, and she smiled thinking that she now had someone of her own to pass it to someday. She placed the wrapped figure in the box and then slowly moved her hands over her belly. She felt the swell beneath her palms and looked down at the way her shirt stretched across her belly. She had started to show rather early due to her small frame. Her body had grown to accommodate the developing child she carried, and she’d spent many a moment standing sideways in the mirror admiring the changes. 

Phil was beside himself and she’d smacked his hands away more than once when he’d come at her with a measuring tape to track the growth he’d said. She vetoed the idea in favor of the doctors keeping tabs on it, but she gladly let him read to her at night the current changes their baby was going through. At sixteen weeks their little lemon-sized miracle was all he talked about, and she couldn’t be happier. Who knew such a tiny creature could steal all of his attention from Captain America. She glanced at the next shelf that was packed full of Captain America memorabilia and laughed thinking she should have gotten pregnant sooner. 

He talked to her belly sometimes at night when he thought she was asleep. She’d stay still and listen wanting to give him that time as much as she wanted to hear what he had to say. Sometimes he’d talk about what was going on in the world that day, sometimes he’d describe their new house with the yard and all the ways they could play in it, but sometimes he’d just tell their baby about her, how much he loved her, and what a great mommy she was going to be; and it would take every ounce of strength to stay still and not give in to the hormonal mess her emotions were these days. 

They were going to get married in a couple of weeks. Phil had suggested waiting until the baby was born, but she cringed thinking about the cliche baby carriage being pushed down the aisle and said she wanted to go ahead with it. If she were honest, she was just ready to be his wife. 

She shook her head at that thought. She had sworn after going through her parent’s divorce that she would never marry. Things had ended civilly and she wasn’t emotionally scarred from the split, but she had lost faith in the idea of marriage being permanent. What was the point in going through it all if you could just sign some papers later and go your separate ways? She had no desire for the fancy dress and big celebration. It just seemed like a waste of time and money for something that would eventually fall apart. She just didn’t want to have anything to do with any of it, and never once did she feel like she was missing out on something by not having it. 

But then there was Phil. 

Phil believed in marriage and happily ever after. He was a bubbling optimist who still thought two people could love each other and grow old together, and somehow he made her believe in that too. She just couldn’t imagine her life without him, and the idea of having something official marking her as his made her heart dance in ways she didn’t think possible to feel. She knew she would never love anyone else. Nothing would ever compare to what they had found together, and for the first time in her life, she wanted a real family. 

She moved her hand gently across her belly. She wanted it for their child. 

She shook her head and decided she’d wasted enough time thinking and needed to get back to work. She had promised herself that she would finish packing up the bookshelves today, and she still had several shelves to go. She grabbed the bubble wrap and looked at the shelf that looked like a Captain America museum had thrown up on it with a sigh. 

“Your daddy is such a dork, baby,” she said softly. “I’m going to need you to break at least half of these once you start walking. I’ll make it worth your efforts. A cookie for each one he can’t fix with glue.” 

She shook her head and went back to work. Maybe she could strike that same deal with the movers. 

It was 2 am a week later when she was startled awake.

“Phil……Phil….wake up,” she called out as she sat up in bed and quickly turned on the lamp on the bedside table. 

“What is it?” He moaned sleepily beside her but kept his eyes closed tight against the bright light.

She shook his shoulder and tried again. “I felt it.”

“That’s great Mel….I’m so proud of you….that’s so nice…” he mumbled with a half-hearted wave of his hand as he drifted off again. 

“Phil! I felt the baby move!” she said and pressed her hand to the slight swell.

Suddenly his eyes snapped open and he put both of his hands on her belly trying to feel their child move. “You felt the baby moving?”

“Yeah…just a minute ago,” she whispered and held still in anticipation of feeling the tiny flutter once more. 

He was wide awake now, and his eyes darted back and forth between her face and her belly. “Did it hurt? Or feel weird…? Did it hurt and feel weird?”

“No," she said with a shake of her head as she leaned back against the headboard. "It was…It was like a butterfly moved against my skin from the inside…”

His eyes went back to where his hands rested on her belly. “I don’t feel anything.”

She shook her head and shrugged in apology. “I’m sorry…you might not be able to feel it for a while. I shouldn’t have woken you up…I was just so excited.”

A smile spread across his face, and he sat up and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “Don’t be sorry. It’s very exciting. In just one more week we find out if it’s a boy or a girl…and a few days after that we get married." 

“You sure you don’t want to back out?” she asked with a smirk and arched brow.

He chuckled with a shake of his head and pressed another kiss to her lips before sliding down onto his pillow. “I wouldn’t dare. You might whip my ass,” he teased. 

“That’s true,” She agreed and slid back down onto the bed. She reached up to turn the lamp back off before settling onto her side. 

His arm slid around her waist and pressed his hand carefully to her belly. “Just in case little Steve gets to wiggling around again.”

“For the last time, Phil, we are not naming our child after Captain America,” she groaned.

They'd had this argument before, but he was not to be deterred. “You know, Melinda, I think you just need a little time to warm up to the idea.”

“No.”

“It’s a strong name,” he argued, and she could feel his smile against the skin of her shoulder where his lips brushed a soft kiss. 

“No.”

He pulled her back against his chest with a content smile knowing they would have this same discussion a few more times. “Just take your time and think about it.”

“No.”

“You’ll come around,” he whispered and pressed a kiss to the crown of her head as he held her close.

He had time to talk her into it before the baby was born. In the meantime, he was just a week and a few days away from changing her name and he couldn’t be happier. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for your patience and for sticking with this story! It felt good to have some time to write again!


End file.
